The long shadow of the one-child policy: China pays for its biggest social experiment with a demographic crisis

"The one-child policy was perhaps the greatest social experiment in human history. With the goal of curbing population growth at all costs, for just over 35 years China only allowed families to have one child. Communist leaders outlined the measures with a slogan in 1978: One is better, two at most, leaving a three-year gap. In 1980 it became state policy. By 1982, 96% of families in cities were having only one child, according to the Urban Household Survey."

"Until the policy itself became a problem. With the population pyramid inverting, Beijing put an end to the one-child policy in 2016, allowing couples to have two children to balance demographic development and address the challenge of an aging population. It hasn't succeeded. Ten years later, the declining birth rate is one of the biggest headaches for the Chinese government. The shadow cast is long."

"During its implementation, the one-child policy gave rise to horrific stories of abortions, abandonment, and children who grew up unregistered. It particularly targeted girls, whom many families rejected. At the same time, a new kind of only-child society was shaped, known as little emperors hyper-developed, pampered children who have grown into adults while China's GDP grew at an average rate of 10% and the country ascended to the pantheon of superpowers."

The one-child policy limited Chinese families to a single child for over 35 years to curb population growth. The policy used fines and penalties to enforce compliance, producing a sharp decline in birth rates and near-universal single-child urban households by the early 1980s. The policy caused forced abortions, abandonment, and many unregistered children, and promoted gender bias against girls. The policy shaped an only-child generation often described as "little emperors" amid rapid economic growth. Beijing ended the policy in 2016, allowing two children to address aging and demographic inversion, but birth rates have continued to decline.

Read at english.elpais.com