Partially as a result of China’s one child policy, China’s fertility rate – the number of children that an average woman will have – has dropped to 1.6, below the 2.1 required to prevent population decline. This means that the country is rapidly ageing, which Japan’s experience indicates could lead to an economic crash. The Chinese government has taken steps to loosen the one child policy and encourage more children but the initiatives haven’t been successful. The Economist took a look at the reasons why:

• Years of government propaganda about the importance of only having one child has been imprinted on people’s minds and many still believe it’d be unpatriotic to have more children.
• The country’s pollution and traffic problems are blamed on over-population further convincing people that the population needs to shrink.
• The country has grown used to a one-child policy. Hotel rooms for families with two children cannot be booked online.
• Play vehicles are set up with space for two parents and a child.
• Even toothbrush holders usually assume a two parent one child household.
• The cost of education and healthcare means that many parents feel that they cannot afford a second child.
• Since both parents are often working, grandparents help take care of children. But people are having children at older ages which means that grandparents can barely keep up with one child let alone two.

Read more about the effects that the one-child policy had on the country, the next steps that the government might take, and other details here.

Source: The Economist