Re-thinking China's 'One Child per Household' Law

Some demographers say the damage is already done.  In 1979, China enacted the 'one child per household' law.  Of course exceptions are made if the one child is (god forbid) a girl.  And families who live out in the sticks can have more than one child.  But now, after officials killed a 7-month old fetus, the law is currently up for debate.

The elderly population is so disproportionately large, the younger generations can't afford their expensive health care bills.  Economists say even if they repeal the law today, the next 30 years of elderly healthcare is unaffordable.  There simply aren't enough workers to pay for it.

When you tell a couple they can have another child if their first is a girl, what do you think happens to a vast majority of the girls?  Ya, they get shipped out.  So now, there's a ton of unmarried men, and the women who are of child-bearing age grew up in a society where one child was the norm.  It was the ideal, and the only thing they knew.  So now, couples in China want small families of less than 2 children.  You do the math.  Two parents + 1 kid = 50% fewer population than the last generation.

It's a sociological, demographical conundrum but the good news in all of this is the power and equality that may go back to the Chinese women in another 20 years.  Let's say, for the sake of this blog post that China decides to place no limits on births.  Theoretically, boy babies and girl babies would become equally important, deserving of the same love; and eventually equal members of the society.  Dare to dream?  I do.

See the full article on NPR

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