China considers scrapping family planning laws as population ages

CHINA is reportedly considering scrapping the limits it places on how many children families can have, ending one of history’s most intrusive and controversial social experiments.

China’s State Council has commissioned research to explore what effects such a move would have, and an announcement could be made later this year or in 2019, Bloomberg said yesterday. In recent years, Beijing has been confronting the consequences of four decades of strict family planning controls – a dwindling workforce and a huge increase in elderly citizens.

Authorities scrapped the infamous “one child policy” in 2016, a move which Beijing hoped would kick-start a baby boom. But busy younger mothers in urban areas – where the new rules mainly applied – turned their backs on having a second child, while a twochild limit remained in place for many.

The relaxation in family planning laws consequently failed to have a significant impact on falling birth rates, causing a major headache for leaders.

Figures showed only a million more babies were born in 2016 than 2015.

Chinese experts expect the country’s working population – estimated by the government to be 998.3 million people by the end of 2016 – to drop by around 40 million by 2030. By 2050, 30 per cent of Chinese will be age 60 or over, the United Nations estimates, versus 20 per cent worldwide and 10 per cent in China in the year 2000.

China launched its one child policy in the late Seventies to stem a rapidly growing population.

But the draconian family planning laws – which are often enforced through intrusive forms of contraception and even forced abortions – have been widely condemned by human rights campaigners.

The one-child policy also contributed to a sharp gender imbalance, with 32.66million more males than females at the end of 2017.

However, many experts believe that even with no limits on the size of families, China will struggle to significantly boost the number of births. Observers point to a culture of having small families becoming the norm while the latest generation of parents enjoy the extra freedom and disposable income associated with smaller family units.

♦ The remote Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha welcomed its first baby in 12 years after a woman broke a rule against giving birth there. The girl born on Saturday came as a surprise to everyone – including the mother, who did not know she was pregnant.

Fernando de Noronha – an archipelago famous for its wildlife – does not authorise births because there is no maternity ward. Expectant mothers must instead travel to the mainland.