Earlier until 2015 the Chinese government had a one-child policy. Any violations to this would lead to economic issues, and in many cases even forced abortions and sterilizations. Sometimes the extra baby would have to be forcefully be enrolled in the army. This was meant to control the population but the reason for scrapping it away was because the average age of the population started falling and it is seriously detrimental to the country in a long run. So in 2016, the country came up with a two-child policy and this was in practice so far. Just a few hours ago China announced a three-child policy.

Previous experiences

When the Chinese came up with the two-child policy they did not get the sudden increase in birth rates as expected. This was because the expenses of growing a child were already too much that couples would not prefer having more than one child.

Just like everywhere else in the world the young generation in China also has to abide by the fact that they have longer working hours and overwork is also an issue the country faces. Moreover, women joining the workforce and choosing careers has definitely led to better efficiency as people who were never in the workforce have now joined, but this led to too many people in the labor market. Over competition has led to excessive working and decrease in wages for individuals.

Future

A person living in the posh city area would be more rational and not have more than one kid. But someone in a more countryside town would still want to have a big family even if it means that bearing a kid is unsustainable. This is a problem places like India face too. A limit on the child bearing can certainly help regulate poverty in regions where people have no understanding of family welfare and lack of appreciation of education. The means in which the policy is implemented is important making sure that it doesn’t harm any individual nor the targets of the policy.