Population - China

• Population Policies: China


  Policies introduced by the Chinese government to control population growth
• China introduced the one child policy in 1979
• The policy was introduced to control population growth and ensure a better quality of life for citizens
• The population had grown rapidly after The Great Famine in 1958-61
• By the late 1960s, Neo-Malthusians predicted another famine would occur as the optimum population was estimated to be 800 million
• By 1970 the total fertility rate (TFR) was 5.0 and population had increased to 830 million people
• There was only 1/5 acre of farmland available per person for food, which would be reduced to 1/9 of an acre if the population continued to grow, causing a food crisis
• By 1976 the population had reached 940 million, above the optimum
• The government hypothesised if economic development increased, they could sustain 1.2 billion people
• China had a young population, still to have their own children, so even if the TFR decreased to replacement level, the new optimum population would be passed
• This would limit economic growth and result in a poor quality of life for the population