The "one-child policy" has been canceled, but the birth of China at an all-time low

The low birth rate in the world's most populous country stands at 10.48 children per thousand people, despite the reduction in restrictions and the birth control by the government. However, the size of China's population has not been significantly affected because the mortality rate is lower

The "one-child policy" has been canceled, but the birth of China at an all-time low

The birth rate in China has dropped to the lowest since the founding of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago. The low birth rate, 10.48 children per thousand people, was recorded despite the government's easing of the "one-child policy," which has been widely criticized.

The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said that in addition to the lowest birth rate since 1949, the number of babies born in 2019 has dropped by more than 580,000 babies to slightly more than 14 million babies. The birth rate in the country, which has been declining over the years, poses a challenge to the world's second largest economy.

Despite the decline in the birth rate, the population of China has not been significantly affected, because the mortality rate is lower. China's population has dropped from 1.4 billion to 1.39 billion. However, the decline in the birth rate raises fears of a "demographic time bomb" - so a small working-age population is forced to support a larger and older population.

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Just over 14 million babies were born in China in 2019. Chinese woman kissing baby (Photo: AP)

Chinese woman kisses a baby after it is announced that Beijing will host the Winter Olympics on July 31, 2015 (Photo: AP)

The birth rate in China is lower than the rate in the United States, which was 12 babies per thousand in 2017, but higher than the Japanese figure of eight babies per thousand. In the UK, the birth rate is 11.6 babies per thousand, and the overall world birth rate in 2017 was 18.65, according to the World Bank.

The birth control program in China called "One Child Policy" was announced in 1979, and is designed to address the fear of population explosion in a country with the largest population in the world. Under the plan, young couples were banned from bringing more than one offspring into the world, and the state imposed financial sanctions on couples who violated the ban. In the early stages of the program, abortions and forced sterilization were also carried out in a small part of the countryside, but later the policy was moderated and most of the penalties imposed on "illegal" children were economic.

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The birth rate in China is lower than the United States. Women carrying babies in Beijing (Photo: AP)

Women carrying babies in a park in Beijing, China, October 30, 2015 (Photo: AP)

But the policy has created a severe gender imbalance in the country, with a gap of more than 30 million between men and women. In 2015, the government decided to end the one-child policy, and since then couples in the state have been allowed to bring two children into the world. Despite this, the reform failed to reverse the decline in childbirth in the country - despite a slight increase over the next two years.

Experts say this is because the policy calm has not come with other relevant changes that support family life, such as financial support for child care and increased maternity leave. They claim that most people in the country cannot afford more than one child.