China takes another baby step away from one-child policy
China is introducing another very small loosening of its strict one-child policy: Currently only couples in which both husband and wife are only children are permitted to have a second child — and then only after a gap of at least four years between babies. That would now change with the gap to be eliminated ...
China is introducing another very small loosening of its strict one-child policy:
China is introducing another very small loosening of its strict one-child policy:
Currently only couples in which both husband and wife are only children are permitted to have a second child — and then only after a gap of at least four years between babies. That would now change with the gap to be eliminated — as has already been done in 11 other provinces and municipalities.
Under the new policy, which has yet to be formally implemented, couples in which only one partner has no siblings would be granted the same privilege as two “only child” parents to have a second baby.
China planning to do away with the one-child rule is one of those Groundhog Day stories that always seems to pop up without ever really going anywhere — and an overwhelming number of Chinese still support the policy. Still, this is just the lates is several recent relaxations of the rule and it’s likely that we’ll start to see more as the effects of the aging population, rural-urban divide, and massive gender imbalances created by the rule become more noticeable.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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