China’s Population Hits 1.4 Billion
The world’s most populous country, China’s population has crossed the benchmark of 1.4 billion. Despite its large population of 18 per cent that of the world, the growth rate of its population has dropped to the all-time low since the nation’s founding 70 years ago. Out of every 1,000 Chinese people, there are only 10.48 new-borns. This is even lower than the growth rate of the US population which is 12 out of every 1,000 US citizens. China still performs slightly better than Japan in this area. In consultation with your economics tutor in economics tuition, explain the economic implications of its growing population and declining growth rate. You may sign up for economics tuition with a reputable economics tutor if you would like to improve your grades for this subject.
China’s One-child Policy And Its Various Social Problems
China started its controversial one-child policy in the late 1970s, as a drastic measure to control its enormous population. The government did achieve its objective to slow down the rapid growth of its population, despite the increase in average life expectancy and reduction in death rate. However, the policy had also unintentionally led to some undesirable outcomes. These include, among others, the ageing population and its severely skewed sex ratio at birth, as well as the various social problems as a result. For more details on China’s one-child policy, you may consult your economics tutor in your economics tuition class.
Thanks to its one-child policy, most urban couples give birth to only one child. When this child grows up, he or she has to support two parents and four grandparents. The extremely high dependency ratio will exert great pressure on the working population, as well as the government to support them financially. China’s population is ageing at a much faster pace than most other countries in the world. As of 2017, the proportion of senior citizens (defined as above 60 years old) was 17.3 per cent, equivalent to approximately 241 million people. A country is considered one with an ageing population if the percentage of senior citizens is 10 per cent and above. With guidance from your economics tutor in economics tuition, discuss the various economic and social problems of an ageing population. This topic is covered in the economics tuition of Mr Edmund Quek, principal economics tutor of Economics Cafe Learning Centre, the best economics tuition centre in Singapore.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report in 2018, China has the world’s most skewed sex ratio of 1.15 : 1 (115 boys vs 100 girls) at birth. This can be attributed to the traditional belief of many people in the rural areas of China that only males can pass down their families’ bloodline.
China’s Abortion Of Its One-child Policy in 2016
In early 2016, China abandoned its decade-long one-child policy to encourage couples to give birth to a second child. However, the birth rate in China continued its declining trend in the past three years. Policy aside, young couple in China need to take into consideration a host of other factors when they do their family planning. As checked with some of my friends in China, some of their key concerns include high property price and affordability of quality education for their children. If you were the policy maker in China, what pro-family policies will you introduce to boost the birth rate in China? You may approach your economics tutor after your economics tuition class for some inspirations.
In terms of low birth rate, China is not alone. Singapore too, has been facing the same problem of low birth rate over the years. To tackle this problem, the government has introduced a series of pro-family policies, including baby bonus payouts, enhanced maternity and paternity leaves, as well as progressive tax reliefs for working mothers. However, despite the various efforts to boost fertility, Singapore’s birth rate has been hovering around 1.2, far below the 2.1 birth rate required for the population to replace itself.
Linda Geng
Economics Tuition Singapore @ Economics Cafe
Principal Economics Tutor: Mr. Edmund Quek