On October 29th, 2015, the Chinese Government announced the end of the One-Child Policy.
Since the late 1970s, the People’s Republic of China has been known as a country where families are only permitted to have one child. This policy often known as the “One-Child Policy,” was originally implemented in attempt to control China’s massive population. Over the years, this policy has been enforced by the government in many cruel ways including through large fines and forced abortions.
Hopefully, these brutal practices will be coming to end, as a couple of weeks ago on October 29th, 2015, the Chinese government announced it was to end the policy and enact a new policy that will allow couples to have two children. According to Xinhua News, one of China’s major news outlets, this new “two-child policy” will help with the issue of China’s aging population. Many also think that it will help in improving China’s gender imbalance, as the country has more males than females.
Though this change may have come as a surprise to many, the Chinese government actually started to become more lenient with the one child policy about two years ago when the government decided that couples would be eligible to have another child if one of the parents is an only child. Despite this leniency as well as the recent introduction of the two child policy, many couples have expressed interest in NOT having two children because of how expensive it is.
This new “two-child policy” will not be in effect immediately, as it needs to be approved by China’s Central Government. It is said that this new policy is to be ratified during the Chinese government’s annual National People’s Congress, which is set to take place in March 2016.
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