China Considers Changing Restrictive One-Child Policy

China Considers Changing Restrictive One-Child Policy

　　At rush hour on any given day in Shanghai's subway stations, people are packed in like sardines. It's hard for anyone to get in and out of the trains, and it feels a bit dangerous because there are so many people packed into the small spaces. It's at times like these when China's one-child policy seems to make sense. If people were freely allowed to have as many children as they wanted, the subways would be filled with even more people and China would have even more mouths to feed.

　　China's one-child policy has always been controversial and problematic. Introduced in 1979 as a way to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems, this family planning policy has averted at least 200 million births, according to experts. While that may seem like good news for a country that was crawling out of poverty not too long ago, there have been many negative consequences. Female babies are looked down upon, and there is a real gender imbalance in China now. Also, experts say that the policy has hurt China's economic development.

　　For the people opposed to the one-child policy, good news has finally arrived. It seems as though Chinese officials are preparing to make small changes in their controversial family planning policies. Couples with either the wives or the husbands being only children will soon be allowed to have a second child. This means that most people under the age of 30 should be able to have more than one child.

 

一胎化政策松绑

　　不论哪一天的尖峰时段，在上海地铁站里，大家都挤得像沙丁鱼一样。大家上下车都很困难，因为有这么多人挤进这狭小的空间里，感觉起来有点危险。中国的一胎化政策在这时候似乎就很合理了。如果准许大家随意想要几个孩子就生几个的话，地铁里就会涌进更多人，而中国也就有更多人口需要供养。

　　中国的一胎化政策一直以来都颇受争议且弊端丛生。这项政策是 1979 年所推行用来纾缓社会、经济及环境问题的一种作法，根据专家表示，这项生育政策至少已减少了两亿新生儿。虽然这对一个当时正脱离贫困不久的国家来说或许是个好消息，但这项政策却已经产生了许多负面的结果。女婴受轻视，而且目前中国人口男女失衡的状况相当严重。此外，专家也说，这项政策已经危害了中国的经济发展。

　　对于那些反对一胎化政策的人，好消息终于来临了。中国官员似乎正准备针对这项备受争议的生育政策做些小改变。夫妻中只要有一方是独生子女，很快他们就可以获准生第二个小孩了。这也意味着，大多数三十岁以下的人应该可以拥有不只一个小孩了。