Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Percent of Total Population
50
45
Chinese Population over age 65
40
Estimated
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Figure 2.27
Percent of Population over Age 65 in
China, 1950-2050.
Data from:
Population
Reference Bureau, 2010.
0
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
2050
than one child. For example, if you live in a rural area
and your fi rst child is a girl, you can have a second child,
and if both parents of the child are only children, they
can have a second child. With these changes, the
National Bureau of Statistics of China now estimates
that the population growth rate in China will climb again
over the next 10 years.
to eight years after the birth of a child. The policies led to
a mini-birth-rate-boom by the early 1990s.
When the Swedish economy slowed shortly thereaf-
ter, however, so did the birth rate. The children born in
1991 made up a class of 130,000 students in the Swedish
education system. But the children born three years later, in
1994, made up a class of only 75,000 students. The govern-
ment had to build new classrooms for the temporary popu-
lation boom, but then faced excess capacity when the boom
subsided. Sweden's population policies have helped to pro-
duce a natural rate of increase that is a little higher than that
in many other European countries, but these policies can
achieve only so much. With a TFR still well below 2, the
Swedish government continues to think about new ways to
support families and promote birth rates. One imaginative,
but not evidently successful, approach was suggested by a
spokeswoman for the Christian Democrat Party, who urged
Swedish television to show racier programming at night in
hopes of returning the population to a higher birth rate!
Limitations
Population policies are not independent of circumstances
that can infl uence growth and decline. In the 1980s, the
government of Sweden adopted family-friendly policies
designed to promote gender equality and boost fertility
rates. The programs focused on alleviating much of the
cost of having and raising children. In Sweden, couples
who work and have small children receive cash payments,
tax incentives, job leaves, and work fl exibility that last up
