China ends controversial 'one-child policy' after 35 years of extreme population control

Couples will be allowed two children.

China has made the decision to abandon their "one-child policy." With the controversial law lifted, Chinese couples will now be allowed to have two children.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Communist Party leadership met to discuss the growing concerns over their quickly aging population and the effects of their future labor shortages. According to the Washington Post, last year, China's working population declined for a third straight year, and the falling rate is expected to speed up drastically in the years to come.

"Even though it came way too late, this really marks a historic point to end one of the most controversial and costly policies in human history," stated Wang Feng from the University of California at Irvine, noting the effects of ending the "one-child policy" will take at least a generation to see. "But China for decades to come will have to live with the aftermath of this costly policy."

The one-child policy was created in 1980, but became a little lenient in 2013, when only-child parents were allowed two children and rural couples were allowed a second child if the first was a girl. However, even this relaxation of the law in 2013 didn't help the greying population, as many couples did not want to step outside the norm and couldn't afford a growing family.

The "biggest experiment in modern population control" led to many brutally enforced sterilizations and abortions.

"The change won't cause a baby wave, as the last policy change proved," Peng Xizhe, a population professor at Fudan University explained. "Couples chose not to have second child because of economic pressure and insufficient social welfare."

Although details have not been provided on when the policy change will be implemented, the party expressed the decision to "fully adopt the policy that one couple is allowed two children [and] actively take action on aging population." And they wish to "promote balanced population growth, stick to the basic state policy of family planning and enhance population growth strategy."

Currently, China's population aged 60 and above will reach a quarter of the population by the early 2030s, according to United Nations forecasts. The supply of young labor has greatly declined, as the older group makes a seventh of the China's people.

"The reform will slightly slow down China's ageing society but it won't reverse it," said Peng. "It will ease the labor shortage in the long term, but in the short term it may increase the shortage because more women might stop work to give birth."

China's growing population will most likely depend on whether their government introduces policies that encourage childbirth.

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