| − | With a population officially just over 1.3 billion and an estimated growth rate of about 0.6%, China is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted with mixed results to implement a strict birth limitation policy. Until 2013 the government permitted one child per family, with allowance for a second child under certain circumstances (such as twins), especially in rural areas, and with guidelines looser for ethnic minorities with small populations. Enforcement varies and relies largely on "social compensation fees" to discourage extra births. Official government policy opposed forced [[abortion]] or sterilization, but in some localities, there were instances of forced [[abortion]]. The government's goal was to stabilize the population in the first half of the 21st century, and current projections are that the population would peak at around 1.6 billion by 2050. Boys are highly prized, and because screening of fetuses is done to determine gender, selective abortion has resulted in 119 boys born for every 100 girls. By 2020, 24 million men of marrying age will find themselves without wives. | + | With a population officially just over 1.3 billion and an estimated growth rate of about 0.6%, China is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted with mixed results to implement a strict birth limitation policy. Until 2013 the government permitted one child per family, with allowance for a second child under certain circumstances (such as twins), especially in rural areas, and with guidelines looser for ethnic minorities with small populations. Enforcement varies and relies largely on "social compensation fees" to discourage extra births. Official government policy opposed forced [[abortion]] or sterilization, but in some localities, there were instances of forced [[abortion]]. The government's goal was to stabilize the population in the first half of the 21st century. |
| − | 2013 the government eased the One-child Policy strongly. Since then families in which at least one parent was an only child can have a second child now.<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/china-ease-1-child-policy-abolish-labor-camps</ref>
| + | Boys are highly prized, and because screening of fetuses was done to determine gender, selective abortion resulted in 119 boys born for every 100 girls. |
| | + | Fertility rates dropped below 2.0 by 1990. The magnitude of female [[infanticide]] in China became astonishing in the decades between 1990 and 2010, when well over ten million female infants were killed. The result was a skewed sex ratio in the generation born since 1980. By 2020, there were about 50 million more males than females. |