About twenty-five years ago, China’s main concern was that it had a very high birth rate, too high to provide support for. As China limited its birth rate and introduced a birth control policy this matter came under control. However, as a result of the one-child policy, China has a huge number of aging populations, and it yet again struggles with providing support for this section of people. China has pulled out millions of its citizens out of the curse of poverty. The developments in China make it the most desirable place to live in; therefore the number of people migrating out is way less than the number of people migrating in. As a result, China has the largest growing population in the world, that is, one point forty-two billion people, surprisingly. China’s economic growth has seriously been affected immensely by its growing population rate. China has already started facing a decline in the fertility rate since the 1990’s, so there is a dramatic downfall in the working labor force in China now. The problem of overpopulation in China has been in the highlights for now, and still deserves attention; the population control may have limited the number of people living in the country but has inversely created many other problems.
Population across the World
The growing population is a global threat that is faced by many countries around the world. Countries with the highest population statistics are China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, and Mexico. As this issue was recognized, many countries individually took actions to control the growing population, and the rate of growth has now decreased to one point ten percent per year, which was previously recorded as one point twenty-four (Hilali 30). The world population is estimated to increase more than one billion over the next thirteen years, and it is said that it will be about eight point six billion in the year 2030, and further increase to nine point eight in the year 2050. However, the future of population growth highly depends on the fertility rates that are observed in the future. Females are said to be more than fifty percent of the whole world, and males are observed to be less in numbers, in comparison. Therefore, a more number of females directly points to a higher birthrate, but this point of view also has its limitations.
It is anticipated that almost half of the population growth will be observed in Africa, Asia being the second largest contributor to the growing population in the near future. Regardless of the immense decline in the fertility ratio worldwide, the growth in population is still high in numbers (Neuman 1). Africa is said to play the central role in impacting the size and distribution of the world population statistics over the next few decades. On the contrary, the problem of decreasing fertility in women is said to shrink the population size in a few countries, such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, and the United States of Virgin Islands. The division of population between countries is not balanced; it is observed that only a few countries contribute to more than half of the world’s population whereas the other countries are categorized as underpopulated.
One-Child per Family Policy
China was facing great economic and social problems due to the leading rise in population growth. It was stated as the most populated country in the 19th century, the growing population led to lesser resources available for the people to use. Considering all these problems, the Chinese government came up with their own plan to limit the population growth of China (Zhang, “The Effect Of Population Growth In China In The Course Of Economic Growth.”). They introduced the one-child per family policy in 1979, this policy stated that the citizens were only allowed to have one child, and if they followed the policy, they were awarded several benefits, and those who did not follow the policy had to pay a heavy fine. The government furthermore suggested family planning ways and encouraged abortions of unplanned pregnancies. This program reached its peak in 1938 when tubal ligations, vasectomies, and abortions made up to thirty percent of the total birth control methods.
The one-child per family policy may look like it was the best solution to China’s growing population problem, but it had its limitations too. To begin with, this program was very difficult to implement, under-reporting of childbirths were calculated to be about twenty-seven percent in 1992. This led to about half of the country’s infants living in the country without the birth permit (Schimitz, "The Burning Problem Of China's Garbage".). In addition to that, the Chinese government faced a strict disapproval of the citizen to follow this policy, which was expressed through activism. The biggest shortfall of this policy is the most prominent of all, China now has a huge percentage of adults and very less number of workforce population. Therefore, the need for another effective plan for population control was recognized.
All these problems led to the termination of the one child per family policy, but its effects are still irreversible. The main aim of the policy was to increase the economic growth; however, by 2016 the Chinese government faces the opposite problem and proposed a two-child per family policy. But the reversal was not easy to attain, one of the biggest blockages was the deficiency of the number of women of in their childbearing ages. Chinese population faced a great dominance by the males and there were no women found to reproduce. Secondly, after the heavy psychologically effective campaigns had the couples believe that a larger family automatically means higher costs of living, therefore it was not easy to convince them to have another child (Wang, "China’s Population Destiny: The Looming Crisis"). The birth control measure introduced by the government also had its side effects on the nation, the fertility rate of China dropped immensely, and couples faced difficulty in conceiving even when they wanted to.
China Now
Chinese population growth took place when the basic income became higher than the normal standard of living. China had that maximum per capita income which began to decline after the rise in the population. After several per capita income surveys and data analysis, it was discovered that the rise in population had an inverse effect on the per capita income of the citizens. The problem of population growth still persists in the outskirts of China, which has now created a sense of dissatisfaction among its people. Many Chinese are now found migrating out of the country to European and American states, as they do not see a better future in China (Yang, "If China Is Doing So Well, Why Do So Many Chinese Think Of Moving Here?"). The population issue may have been brought under control for some while, but the overall productivity and the efficiency of the Chinese have declined. The majority population of the country now contains mostly males in their adulthood, who depend on the very small ration of the working class of the country. The Government of China is now also struggling with fulfilling the financial aspects of healthcare routines, for the adults.
Another issue that prevails in China is the pollution, the polluted environment is causing many diseases in the country, and one of them is the dullness of the human brain. Many infants, who are now born in China, seem to have a very low I.Q level when compared to those who were born before the vast developments in the industrial sector. Although the modernization in technology has helped lift a lot of families out of poverty in China, but it is leaving a very poor environmental footprint when compared to other countries (Basten,and Jiang 100). China is solely responsible for the twenty-seven percent of global emissions in the whole world. The poor living environment has encouraged many citizens to migrate out of the country, to find a better and healthy standard of living.
China’s Future
When the discussion of China’s future is made, the most talked about areas are the large cities of China. According to McKinsey’s report, China will have about two hundred and twenty-one cities by the year 2025 to support its problem of overpopulation. It is predicted that China’s mortality rate will continue to decline in the coming years. The longer life expectancy will result in more old people in the population, increasing the ration of the dependent population in the country. Another alarming situation that is predicted to reach its peak is the major decline in the fertility rate in China (Liang, Li and Ma 700). China’s fertility levels are around one-point-five, and possibly lower. The primary school business has fallen in the business charts and will continue to fall as a result of the decline in childbirths. The competition at University level may also fall as the youth segment of the population has decreased in numbers. It is also predicted that there will be an overall fall in the work efficiency of the Chinese, and this may lead to an economic downfall in the country. Due to the undesirable or expected threats, many citizens have now opted to migrate out of the country to other countries where the population is not an issue.
China and its Technological Developments
The developments in the country, China have been amazingly shocking for the whole world. Chinese have maintained their reputation of the self-creation of the products and nullifying the imports. Over the past few years, the exports have China have been immensely high and the imports were very less (Rohdeand Muller 1).Chinese are believed to be very smart people, and hence they find ways to make all goods and services in their own country. China has developed many industrial products and machinery that are used worldwide, it is also said that Chinese products have given a tough a competition to the products of other countries.
One amazing discovery by the Chinese is the burning of the piled up trash in the incinerators power plants to produce electricity. This program is government funded and does not depend on profits; the main aim is to protect the environment and the citizens of the country. The government selects the least price offering company and assigns them the task; however, some economists claim that if it is being done in a cheaper way, it is definitely not being done in an environmentally friendly manner. Some environmentalists state that the burning garbage is polluting the environment by cancer-causing gases, which is leading to a decline in the health of the Chinese (Zhang 575). The financial analysts also disagree with this method and claim that the money spent on the burning of this garbage could be utilized like the other developed countries, that is, the installation of a better functioning recycling system. Regardless of all the criticism faced the concept of producing electricity for millions of people just by burning garbage, is highly appreciated and has helped fight the power shortage in China.
Conclusion
China has been known as the economic powerhouse due to its advancements in technology and cheaper ways to get things done. Not only that, the huge population number meant a large number of working force available, that gave the industries many opportunities to cut down on their cost of production, as the labor supply was available in excess in the labor market. The policies and population control programs have helped China to come out of the overpopulation crisis, but it has left its own adverse effects, that China is now facing.
As a result of rigorous policies to prevent population growth in the country, China now faces a very low mortality rate and a very low fertility rate. The dependent population has increased more than the independent population of the country as there is a smaller percentage of people that falls under the working category in China. China also seems to be suffering from a shortage in the gender, female and has now become a male dominant society. To conclude, the government of China needs to foresee future threats and plan in accordance with them for the overpopulation problems in China to help maintain the economic stability in the country.
Works Cited
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