China to end its controversial One-Child policy

Xinhua, the official news agency of china has reported that the national government has decided to end its decades-long policy of having only one child. Based on the report from the Communist party, the news agency said that all the couples will now be allowed to have two children.

The controversial one-child policy was introduced in 1979 to reduce the country’s population growth rate and the birth rates and thus regulate the burgeoning population. Fines, loss of employment and forced abortions were the punishments for the couples deviating from the policy and having more than one child. There have been heart-wrenching reports of abductions of females by the government officials for causing abortions. A female was reportedly aborted seven months into the pregnancy in a forceful manner. It had also led to severe gender imbalance with men facing problems in finding female partners due to skewed sex ratio.

However the present raise of the ageing population has forced the administration to change its stance. “The core issue is not about one child or two children. It’s about reproductive freedom. It’s about basic human rights. In the past, the government failed to grasp the essence of the issue,” quoted Liang Zhongtang who is a demographer in china.