China is the world’s most densely populated country and makes up one-fifth of today’s world’s total population. The country’s large population, rapidly changing demographic patterns and future uncertainties has caught the attention of policy makers worldwide (Riley 3).
The country’s rapidly growing economy and its demographics are a proof that China will be in the global spotlight for years. China has endured several socio-economic challenges over the past few decades; however, most of the problems that the country faces today are related to recent demographic changes.
A census taken recently has revealed that population increased to 1.34 billion in 2010 as compared to 1.27 billion in 2000. Annual population growth rate averaged to 0.57% in the past 10 years. This is a significant decrease compared to 1.07% for the previous ten years. The census statistics also revealed the emergence of a rapidly aging population. People over the age of 60 years comprised 13.3% of the total population in 2010.
This is an increase in comparison to 10.3% for the year 2000. Part of the population under the age of 14 years was 16.6%, a decline down from 23% in the year 2000 (United Nations Population Fund 18).
The Chinese government has been implementing a one child policy law since 1979. This law limits the number of children that a married couple can have to one child. It was a policy created to mitigate environmental and socio-economic problems in the Country (Riley 9).
Authorities concerned with population matters claim that prevention of over 400 million births occurred since the implementation of the one child policy. The policy makers have further claimed that the law has led to decreased pollution levels and decreased pressure on global food supplies.
In spite of the preventing millions of births, the one child policy has created immense socio-economic challenges for China and caused irremediable interference in the structure of Population Growth in China. A projection by The United Nations Population Division has revealed that the population of people above 60 years old in China will be 31% of the country’s total population by 2050 (United Nations Population Fund 25).
This is a challenge for the country’s policy makers. It has already been evidenced that the constantly growing percentage of the elderly in China is straining the country’s resources.
Over the past decades, family compositions and marriages in China suffered due to changes in government policies, reduced fertility rates and marriage laws. China just like other Asian nations has a custom for son predilection.
This can be observed with the followers of Confucianism who openly prefer sons over daughters. They consider a son to be more helpful in the farms than a daughter. They believe that having a son is better because he will provide monetary support to his parents later in life when they retire.
These Confucian beliefs and the one child law have created a shortage of females in the Country. The male to female ratio in China is the highest in the world and stands at 1.13 male to 1 female. Projections show that China will have approximately 30 million more males than females in China by 2020; this may lead to social volatility (Riley 22).
Conclusion
Vast demographic changes in China’s recent history affect a country’s development and operational policies. Considering China’s economic, political and demographic importance to the world, the country’s future population is of immense significance worldwide (Riley 32). Predicting what exactly will happen in China over the next decades seems to be impossible.
However, the effects of the government policies on reproduction, family size, fertility rates and marriages will almost certainly continue to affect the country in the predictable future.
Problems brought about by reduced population growth rates and the one child policy, for example, a dwindling labor force; are sufficient reasons for policy makers in China to be concerned about the Country’s future development and social status in the world.
Works Cited
Riley, Nancy 2004, China’s Population:New Trends and Challenges, Population Bulletin 59, no. 2. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau. Web.
United Nations Population Fund. Report on Population Dynamics in the LDCs: Challenges and Opportunities for Development and Poverty Reduction. Web.