China ends one-child policy

Married couples now will be allowed to have two children, but no more

Beijing— China’s Communist Party on Thursday officially ended its policy that limited most families to a single child — an acknowledgment that the 1970s population- control measure was outdated, holding back economic growth and had distorted China’s demographics in ways that could hurt the party’s long-term hold on power.

Some experts were surprised by the suddenness of the decision, even though the problems caused by the one-child policy have been apparent It also appears the party will not immediately loosen restrictions on single women having children, a sore point for the country’s feminists.

for many years. With so many families limited to a single child, China’s labor force is shrinking and working people without siblings are struggling to care for their aging parents.

Moreover, the policy has contributed to a surplus of men, partly because of a patriarchal tradition of favoring male children. That means an excess of young males with no marriage prospects — a formula for potential unrest and chaos of the kind party leaders fear most.

“Certainly the Communist Party for many years said that the sex-ratio imbalance is a severe societal problem,” said Leta Hong Fincher, a Hong Kong-based sociologist who specializes in Chinese policy toward women and families. “They have been talking about loosening the policy for years. Still, I amsurprised they did this without a more gradual step. It suggests they felt they needed to move rapidly because of the demographic crisis.”

Even with the lifting of the one- child rule, the Communist Party hasn’t completely gotten out of the business of dictating reproductive decisions. Under the new policy, announced in a communique late Thursday, couples nationwide will be allowed to have two children, but no more. It also appears the party will not loosen restrictions on single women having children, a sore point for feminists.

China introduced its one-child policy in 1978, two years after the death of Mao Zedong, who throughout his rule had encouraged large families. By the late 1970s, the party was growing increasingly concerned about the population’s strain on resources.

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