China’s 'one-child' policy led to a demographic time bomb, and now the country is scrambling to undo it
REUTERS/Carlos Barria
- China has become a demographic time bomb despite ending its one-child policy two years ago.
- Local authorities are scrambling to incentivize women to have more children, as the country's birth rate continues to drop.
- Some provinces want to offer cash bonuses to parents who have a second child, and others are voicing support for eliminating all limits on childbirth.
For more than 35 years, China restricted all of the country's women to having only one child — a policy that was implemented due to population growth and food shortages, among other things.
In 2016, a shrinking workforce and aging population led the government to end the policy. Authorities began encouraging women to have two children. But the damage to China's population growth had been done, and now the country is dealing with a demographic time bomb.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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