China's two child policy credited with 7.9% boost in babies last year with another 10% per year possible by 2020
by noreply@blogger.com (brian wang) from NextBigFuture.com on (#2D8XC)
China's universal second-child policy implemented early 2016 was a major factor in raising the number of births in China to 17.86 million last year, an increase of 7.9 percent and the highest annual number since since 2000, according to the top health authority.
The number of newborns has increased by 1.31 million compared with 2015.
The portion of the births to couples who already had at least one child rose quickly to at least 45 percent last year, Yang Wenzhuang, a division director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a news conference on Sunday. The proportion was around 30 percent before 2013.
"It demonstrates that the universal second-child policy came in time and worked effectively," Yang said.
"Some regions, mostly large cities in eastern areas, began recording second children as comprising more than half of local newborns," he added.
Yang expected that by 2020, the number of new births each year would stand between 17 to 20 million in China, citing expert estimations.
Last week, Ma Xiaowei, deputy director of the commission, said a baby boom triggered largely by the new policy probably would come within the next two years.
For that, the commission plans to add 140,000 more maternity health workers in the coming years, he said.
Like many countries with a low birth rate, China was concerned about how to care for its aging population, as there were a dearth of young worker to help support them, as well as a gross gender imbalance, because so many female babies were abandoned or aborted in the patriarchal society.
Experts warned the "Two Child" policy was "too little, too late" to reverse the trend.
The NHFPC claims, however, that their data proves otherwise.
In their press release, the NHFPC said that "by 2050, the policy is expected to bring about an extra 30 million working-age people and reduce the nation's aging rate by 2 percent, commission projections show."
However, the NHFPC said the Communist Party's leaders need to come up with better policies to support couples willing to have more than one child, "particularly in terms of maternity education and health services."
The number of workers aged 16 to 59 dropped by a record 4.87 million to 911 million last year, compared to decline of 3.71 million in 2014, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.
China has the world's largest population, with 1.37 billion people, but the country is aging and birth rates are declining. The United Nations projects that the number of Chinese over the age of 65 will jump 85% to 243 million, in 2030, up from 131 million this year. Most couples say it's too expensive to have more children.
The number of working age people in China is set to fall to 700 million by 2050 - a decline of nearly a quarter, according to a government spokesman. The working-age population has been in decline since 2012, with the number of people aged 16-59 predicted to be 830 million in 2030. Maintaining China's workforce in 2050 would require adding 150 million more than the expected 50 million from the two child policy.
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The number of newborns has increased by 1.31 million compared with 2015.
The portion of the births to couples who already had at least one child rose quickly to at least 45 percent last year, Yang Wenzhuang, a division director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a news conference on Sunday. The proportion was around 30 percent before 2013.
"It demonstrates that the universal second-child policy came in time and worked effectively," Yang said.
"Some regions, mostly large cities in eastern areas, began recording second children as comprising more than half of local newborns," he added.
Yang expected that by 2020, the number of new births each year would stand between 17 to 20 million in China, citing expert estimations.
Last week, Ma Xiaowei, deputy director of the commission, said a baby boom triggered largely by the new policy probably would come within the next two years.
For that, the commission plans to add 140,000 more maternity health workers in the coming years, he said.
Like many countries with a low birth rate, China was concerned about how to care for its aging population, as there were a dearth of young worker to help support them, as well as a gross gender imbalance, because so many female babies were abandoned or aborted in the patriarchal society.
Experts warned the "Two Child" policy was "too little, too late" to reverse the trend.
The NHFPC claims, however, that their data proves otherwise.
In their press release, the NHFPC said that "by 2050, the policy is expected to bring about an extra 30 million working-age people and reduce the nation's aging rate by 2 percent, commission projections show."
However, the NHFPC said the Communist Party's leaders need to come up with better policies to support couples willing to have more than one child, "particularly in terms of maternity education and health services."
The number of workers aged 16 to 59 dropped by a record 4.87 million to 911 million last year, compared to decline of 3.71 million in 2014, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.
China has the world's largest population, with 1.37 billion people, but the country is aging and birth rates are declining. The United Nations projects that the number of Chinese over the age of 65 will jump 85% to 243 million, in 2030, up from 131 million this year. Most couples say it's too expensive to have more children.
The number of working age people in China is set to fall to 700 million by 2050 - a decline of nearly a quarter, according to a government spokesman. The working-age population has been in decline since 2012, with the number of people aged 16-59 predicted to be 830 million in 2030. Maintaining China's workforce in 2050 would require adding 150 million more than the expected 50 million from the two child policy.
Read more