Family Planning

 

In the 1970s, China’s party leaders initiated a national family planning initiative led by the State Council. Urban and rural population committees were established. The one child policy came into effect in 1979, with the exception of two children in rural populations if the first child was a girl. The goal was to maintain a population of 1.2 billion people until 2000, in keeping with the Four Modernizations, the industrializing strategy that advocated reform in four key areas: agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defense.

The policy has generally had greater effect in urban areas. However, the emphasis of the program was on rural populations, which accounted for 60 percent of the entire population. Many reports of coercion and abuse have cited forced abortions and infanticide. There have also been criticisms of the policy negatively affecting China’s labor force, elderly population, gender imbalance, and high savings rate.

In mid-November 2013, the Chinese government revealed a proposed revision to its long-controversial one-child population policy. The proposed revision creates a new exception to China’s one-child rule, allowing couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. This announcement came amid a decision on major comprehensive new reforms. The central government has, however, assured the public that the national population planning rules will remain unchanged, thus maintaining their control over individual and families’ reproductive decisions. Furthermore, the implementation of this new policy proposal requires an amendment to local regulations on family planning.

 

Source: United States . Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook. 2013. Print.