Population policies

Population policies

1. China's one-child policy

   • In the 1940s
     • Life expectancy - 35
     • Birth rate - 37 per 1000
     • Infant mortality - 227 per 1000
     • China was an LEDC at this point - people were struggling. This is when the communists came into power.
   • Anti-Natalist policy
     • Anti-natalist means that you are trying to stop people giving birth/having children. China might have done this because there is strain on resources, jobs or government
   • Under communism
     • Healthcare was free
     • Chairman Mao believed that a big population means a strong country
       • He encouraged people to have big families
     • In the 1960s
       • Life expectancy - 66
       • Birth rate - 20 per 1000
       • Infant mortality - 53 per 1000
   • Consequences
     • Due to the free healthcare and older life expectancy the population boomed
     • Pressure on food supplies(famine), water, land and jobs was increasing
     • The government tried encouraging later marriages and having only two children but the birth rate was around 5.8 per couple
       • This wasn't slowing the growth so in 1979 the one-child policy was introduced
         • This meant couples could only have one child by law

2. France's pro-natalist policy

   • Pro-natalist policy
     • A pro-natalist policy is a policy which encourages women to have children through reward
     • Countries may encourage people to have children so there are people to pay taxes and to look after the older people as they grow older
   • The fertility rate in France has changed a lot over the past few years
     • In 1968 the fertility rate was 2.6 but it fell again in1994 to 1.6
     • But now the fertility rate is steadily growing and it is now at 2.0
   • Rewards given
     • Generous maternity leave
     • Cheap high quality childcare
     • €512 monthly grant for women who put their jobs on hold to raise a second or third child