China dropped its “one-child” policy back in 2015, but is just now starting to see the effects.  Because this policy has been in place since 1980, many parents grew up as only children and only want one child.  Only children have become a social norm in China.  This policy caused the amount of citizens over 60 to grow to severe rates and citizens under 10 to shrink to rates that cause concern to the economy because of the decreased labor force.  The policy was first relaxed back in 2013, giving exception to parents who grew up as only children.  While the response was underwhelming, the government decided to go ahead and fully revise the policy to try and raise the amount of working age citizens in the future.

The Central Committee has decided to change this policy due to the increasing amount of elderly people and the decreasing amount of working age citizens.  The labor force had decreased for three years straight before the policy was revised.  The United Nations predict that by 2030 the number of people 60 or older in China will make up about a quarter of its population.  Since not enough children have been born to take over the labor force, the economic pressure of the last generation falls on the new one and there are not enough people to keep the economy going.  Economists are worried that while the two child policy will help in the future, it will cause the current economy to collapse because of all the women who will take off on maternity leave.

Many people in China are outraged at this reform.  Due to this policy change, many companies and the government have been encouraging families to have another child.  But many families don’t want more than one child.  Most just can’t afford it because of China’s high cost of living.  Some don’t want another child because they grew up as only children and it is now considered a part of Chinese culture to only have one child.  Others don’t like how the government is trying to regulate all aspects of their life.  Many parents feel that they have put so much effort into raising one child that they can’t raise another.  Pressures on children to do well in school are far worse than they are here.  Most children attend extra classes after school and on weekends just to stay ahead of the curve.  These classes effect the parents as well as the child.  The parents are expected to participate in the child’s education and the costs of classes are usually ridiculously inflated.

All of these factors lead to the birth rate being far below what the government expected and national averages.  In time, China may be able to rebuild their population numbers enough to stabilize the economy, but it is not enough to relieve the current pressure.  It is doubtful that Chinese culture will change anytime soon to accommodate more than one child per family, spelling doom for China’s current economy.