Chinese men play a game of checkers on a sidewalk in Beijing on February 6, 2017. China made its first major change to its “one-child policy” in nearly 30 years to wrestle with a massive shift in its population toward the elderly, who cannot work and need support. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
China’s one-child policy, enforced nationwide from 1979 and maintained for decades, is facing renewed criticism as the country confronts mounting pressure to care for aging parents in families with only one adult child.
Chinese media outlets including Beijing Youth Daily have described the policy as once being viewed as highly effective at curbing births. In recent years, however, coverage and commentary have increasingly focused on its long-term costs as population size and age structure have come to be seen as factors in national competitiveness.
Research institutions including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have argued China needed to maintain a population of about 1.4 billion as it sought to strengthen national capacity, according to the report. Warnings that continued birth restrictions could accelerate demographic decline contributed to policy changes, with authorities easing limits in 2013 and later abolishing the one-child policy in 2019. The report said related population policy offices at central and local levels were scaled back and campaigns began encouraging families to have two or more children.
Even after the shift, cultural critic Ma Xiangwu of Renmin University said having only one child has become an “unwritten rule” in many households, making families with two or more children increasingly uncommon.
Some observers cited in the report said the population could fall below 1.4 billion within the next two to three years, raising concerns about longer-term competitiveness.
The report said the most immediate strain is emerging within families as parents of only children reach retirement age. In some cases, older parents require care while their only adult child is expected to support both sets of parents, creating financial and caregiving burdens.
The report said similar pressures are expected to expand as cohorts born in the 1960s and 1970s age, particularly for families with limited social security coverage or where adult children lack the means to provide support. Some analysts cited in the report warned such dynamics could intensify social and economic stress, including weaker domestic demand and tighter household finances.
– Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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