Most people free to have more than one child
[ 2007-07-12 11:40 ]
Less than 40 percent of the population is restricted by the family planning
policy to having one child, a senior official with the National Population and
Family Planning Commission said yesterday.
While popularly referred to as
the "one child policy", the rule actually restricts just 35.9 percent of the
population to having one child, Yu Xuejun, a spokesman with the commission, said
in a Webcast on the government's website (www.gov.cn).
Except in Central China's Henan
Province, couples can have two children if they are both only children, he
said.
In addition, more than 11 percent of the population, mostly
minority groups, is free to have two or more children, he said.
In many
rural areas, couples are allowed to have a second child if their first is a girl
(the so-called "one-and-a-half children policy"). This applies to 52.9 percent
of the population. For lack of a social security program, people usually depend
on sons to support them when they grow old.
Yu said China does not want
the current birth rate of 1.8 per couple to fall, as it needs to be "in harmony
with the economy, resources and environment".
He said that since 2000,
the family planning policy has been adjusted to maintain the birth rate, not
lower it.
"We don't encourage couples who are entitled to have two
children to only have one," Yu said. "And it is not true we want the birth rate
to be as low as possible."
He also suggested the export of labor could
help reduce the population pressure.
"Family planning is, of course, not
the only way to control the population," he said.
"China has 20 percent
of the world's population, but accounts for only 1 percent of global expatriate
laborers.
"In countries like the Philippines and Mexico, about 10 percent
of laborers work abroad every year, which is a good inspiration for our
country," he said.
Workers from the Philippines were even beginning to
show up in China, he said.
Yu also said the family planning policy had a
"certain relationship" with the acceleration of an aging society and the
imbalance of the sex ratio of newborn babies.
However, he said the
government must maintain its birth polices as the baby boom generation of the
1970s and 80s has now reached marriage and childbearing age, risking another
population surge if restrictions are dropped.
"I can see no major changes
in the family planning policy before 2010," he said.
"After that, the
government might adjust it according to the situation."
China has
maintained its family planning policy since the late 1970s.
(China Daily 07/11/2007 page 3)
Questions:
1. What two countries export about 10 percent of their laborers annually, and
should be seen as good inspiration for China?
2. What are the two ways
couples may have more than 1 child?
3. What is the societal justification
for the "one-and-a-half children policy"?
Answers:
1. The Philippines and Mexico.
2. If they are both only children or if they belong to a minority group.
3. Since there is no social security system, people usually depend on their
son and not daughter to support them when they grow old.
（英語點津 Linda 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
 Suzann Riddle is a senior double majoring in Health Care
Management and Economics at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She finds
herself at China Daily Website after visiting many areas of China as a Holland
Fellow, Appalachian's international exchange program with Fudan University.
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