Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2.25
Chengdu, China.
A large billboard warning readers to follow China's one-child policy.
© H. J. de Blij.
China's
one-child policy
, instituted after the end of the
Maoist period in the 1970s, drastically reduced China's
growth rate from one of the world's fastest to one of the
world's slowest (Fig. 2.25). Under the one-child policy,
families that had more than one child were penalized
fi nancially, and educational opportunities and housing
privileges were kept from families who broke the one-
child mandate.
Population growth rates in China fell quickly under
the one-child policy. In the 1970s, China's growth rate
was 3 percent; in the mid-1980s it was 1.2 percent; and,
today, China's growth rate is 0.5 percent. The main goal
of the one-child policy was achieved, but the policy also
had several unintended consequences, including an
increased abortion rate, an increase in female infanticide,
and a high rate of orphaned girls (many of whom were
adopted in the United States and Canada).
During the 1990s, under pressure to improve its
human rights records and also with the realization that
the population was quickly becoming gender (Fig. 2.26)
and age imbalanced (Fig. 2.27), China relaxed its one-
child policy. Several caveats allow families to have more
Population Pyramids, China: 2010 and 2050
2010
Percentage
2050
Percentage
Males
Females
Males
Females
.........................
......................
..................
.............
......
...........
......
..........
.............
...............
........
..........
............
..............
...............
................
80+
70-74
60-64
50-54
40-44
30-34
20-24
10-14
0-4
80+
70-74
60-64
50-54
40-44
30-34
20-24
10-14
0-4
Figure 2.26
Population Pyramids, China: 2010 and
2050.
Data from:
Population Reference
Bureau, 2010.
............
.................
10 8
6
420
2
4
6 0
10 8
6
420
2
4
6 0
% of population
% of population
