{"id":401104,"date":"2022-01-29T16:05:37","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T13:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/chinas-one-child-policy-has-led-to-a-disastrous-baby-bust\/"},"modified":"2022-01-29T16:05:37","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T13:05:37","slug":"chinas-one-child-policy-has-led-to-a-disastrous-baby-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/chinas-one-child-policy-has-led-to-a-disastrous-baby-bust\/","title":{"rendered":"#China\u2019s one-child policy has led to a disastrous baby bust"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#China\u2019s one-child policy has led to a disastrous baby bust<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Birth rates in China are in free fall.\u00a0And the all-powerful Communist Party of China seems powerless to do anything about it.<\/p>\n<p>The National Bureau of Statistics <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/world\/china-s-birth-rate-drops-for-a-fifth-straight-year-to-record-low\/ar-AASR4li?li=BBnbcA1\">reported that<\/a> only 10.62 million babies were born last year, down from 12.02 million in 2020, and the lowest number in recorded history.<\/p>\n<p>Millennials are the problem \u2014 or should I say the generations of only children spawned by the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(12)61881-9\/fulltext\">one-child policy<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Many Chinese men in their twenties and early thirties seem to have simply given up on life.\u00a0Unlike their fathers and grandfathers, who worked long hours at their jobs so they could buy an apartment, attract a wife, and raise a family, these coddled only sons have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not just indolence; it\u2019s an entire way of life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They even have a name for themselves.\u00a0\u00a0They are\u00a0<em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-57348406\">tangping\u2019ers<\/a><\/em> \u2014 the Chinese expression means to \u201clay flat\u201d \u2014 dedicated to doing just enough to get by in life.\u00a0Their plans do not include marriage, much less children.\u00a0It\u2019s just too much work for the flat-layers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/chines-new-year.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Citizens shop in a Hong Kong market this month. Seeing young women with children is increasingly rare in urban China. \" class=\"wp-image-20994984\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/chines-new-year.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/chines-new-year.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/chines-new-year.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Citizens shop in a Hong Kong market this month. Seeing young women with children is increasingly rare in urban China. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">China <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> Service via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course, the\u00a0<em>tangping\u2019ers<\/em> would have a hard time finding a bride in any case. The\u00a0traditional preference for sons means that men far outnumber women in China, especially in rural areas.\u00a0China has more than 30 million \u201csurplus\u201d men, and the competition for brides is fierce.<\/p>\n<p>To make matters worse, many young women in China\u2019s cities have taken themselves out of the marriage market altogether.\u00a0They are focused on building careers, not marriages. Ask them about children and they will point out that they are already responsible for two aging and increasingly childlike parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Few members of either group will ever marry, much less have children, and together they number in the tens of millions.<\/p>\n<p>Communist officials continue to insist that China\u2019s population will stabilize at its present 1.4 billion, but they are whistling past the graveyard.\u00a0With Chinese women averaging only 1.3 children, below even Japan\u2019s anemic 1.34 children, China is surely already in absolute population decline, filling more coffins than cradles each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Signs that officialdom is hitting the panic button are everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0Decades of anti-natal propaganda threatening\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/zhuanlan.zhihu.com\/p\/33360627\">severe punishment<\/a>\u00a0for violating the one-child policy (\u201cHave an illegal child and we\u2019ll tear down your house!\u201d) have been replaced by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/k.sina.cn\/article_6416489519_17e73dc2f001004q51.html?from=\">exhortations<\/a>\u00a0to couples to bear a second and even a third child.\u00a0\u00a0Having a baby is \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/politics.people.com.cn\/n1\/2018\/0806\/c1001-30210179.html\">not only a family matter, but is also a state affair<\/a>,\u201d women are now being\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/08\/08\/health\/china-one-child-intl\/index.html\">told<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese feminist Xiao Meili has criticized the policy shift, complaining that \u201cwomen\u2019s uteruses are not spigots, to be turned on and off at will by the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/women-children-medical-care-center.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"In 2018, 17 new maternity wards opened in Wuhan Women and Children Medical Care Center (above), but there will be less need for them if current trends continue.\" class=\"wp-image-20994989\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/women-children-medical-care-center.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/women-children-medical-care-center.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/women-children-medical-care-center.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>In 2018, 17 new maternity wards opened at Wuhan Women and Children Medical Care Center (above), but there will be less need for them if current trends continue.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But the state is surely trying.<\/p>\n<p>Local governments have become matchmakers, setting up blind dates.\u00a0Divorce is being\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/01\/29\/china\/china-millennials-marriage-intl-hnk\/index.html\">discouraged<\/a>.\u00a0Some 90% of the country\u2019s notorious \u201cplanned birth\u201d clinics \u2014used to enforce the one child policy by means of abortions, sterilizations, and IUD insertions \u2014 have been\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/china-is-haunted-by-its-one-child-policy-as-it-tries-to-encourage-couples-to-conceive-11641205807?page=1\">closed down<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But marriage and birth rates continue to plummet.\u00a0\u00a0And abortions \u2014 now voluntary \u2014 are running at a staggering 9 million a year, only slightly below births.<\/p>\n<p>The demographic winter is not unique to China, of course. Fertility rates around the world are \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/how-declining-fertility-rates-may-deliver-us-into-oblivion\">dangerously low,<\/a>\u201d according to the World Bank, with birth rates well below replacement levels everywhere but sub-Saharan Africa. In the US, low birthrates and 64 million abortions since 1973 have thinned the ranks of the young and blasted a gaping hole in funding for <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social<\/a> Security and Medicare.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/fuxing-park.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Fuxing Park in Shanghai is filled with dancers, card players, mahjong enthusiasts \u2014 and a growing number of China\u2019s elderly. \" class=\"wp-image-20995008\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/fuxing-park.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/fuxing-park.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/fuxing-park.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Fuxing Park in Shanghai is filled with dancers, card players, mahjong enthusiasts \u2014 and a growing number of China\u2019s elderly. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Corbis via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The difference between China and much of the rest of the world is that Communist leaders were not content to let demographic changes occur naturally.\u00a0Instead, the party embarked upon a brutal population-control policy that \u2014 by forcibly sterilizing and aborting hundreds of millions of women \u2014 greatly accelerated China\u2019s demographic collapse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many people, including smart people,\u201d Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently warned, \u201cthink that the population is growing out of control. It\u2019s completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers \u2014 if people don\u2019t have more children, civilization is going to crumble.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese leadership finally looked at the numbers, and was horrified by what it saw.\u00a0But its \u201cthree-child policy,\u201d which it adopted in 2020 \u201cto actively respond to the aging of the population,\u201d comes far too late to reverse the coming collapse.<\/p>\n<p><em>Steven W. Mosher is the author of\u00a0\u201cBully of Asia: Why China\u2019s Dream is the New Threat to World Order,\u201d now out in a new updated,\u00a0paperback edition.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/29\/chinas-one-child-policy-has-led-to-a-disastrous-baby-bust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#China\u2019s one-child policy has led to a disastrous baby bust&#8221; Birth rates in China are in free fall.\u00a0And the all-powerful Communist Party of China seems powerless to do anything about it. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that only 10.62 million babies were born last year, down from 12.02 million in 2020, and the lowest&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":401105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/china-children.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[125129,4973,91728,70560,78955,71663],"class_list":["post-401104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-1-29-22","tag-china","tag-demographics","tag-parenting","tag-population","tag-xi-jinping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}