Eight Billion People, Eight Billion Problems

Vanja Bodja, Print Staff Writer

January 18, 2022

Between 1900-1950, the world population grew from 2 billion to 2.5 billion in the span of fifty years. After another fifty years, the world grew to fit an astronomical 6.114 billion by 2000. By 2012, another billion people were added to the world population, reaching a total of 7 billion people, in only the span of a decade. Fast forward another ten years, 2020, and the world population quickly emerged towards 8 billion people. This means, in the span of one hundred and fifty years, our population has grown approximately 300%. From our current population of 7.9 billion, approximately 17.9% of people live solely in China. While China stands as the number one most populated country in the world, its growth rate has slowly been depreciating as a result of their One Child Policy implemented in 1980. While between 2010 and 2020 massive changes have been introduced to their population control policy, the consequences of their population density and control has left long term negative effects on current and future citizens of China.

In 1980, China implemented their One Child Policy which prohibited and penalized couples from having over one child per household. Although this was implemented initially for all, exemptions were made almost immediately for rural couples, ethnic minorities, individuals returning from overseas, and households whose first child was female or disabled. The policy controlled urban households more than rural households due to state owned institutions and financial means to be able to pay off fines. For urban households, penalties were greatly enforced on employees of state owned institutions which could potentially result in job loss. In comparison, rural households tended to be poorer and received fewer benefits prohibiting them from having the means to pay off fines. With population growth decreasing, the policy was altered to allow spouses to have a second child only if they had been only children themselves. By 2016, the policy was loosened to allow all spouses to have two children and by 2021 it allowed couples to have three children in their household.

Although the policy has now been uplifted, China is still feeling the effects of its population control, especially within population demographics. In 2010, 13 million children were reported as undocumented because they were born ‘above-quota’ of the One Child Policy. They were denied household registration and legal identification which are all necessary in order to travel, access healthcare, have an education, get married, work legally, and receive government support. While the Communist Party of China intended the policy to decelerate population growth, although that was succeeded, it increased an underground community of undocumented citizens which lived in fear and were denied basic human rights. Although in 2020 the policy no longer stands, the 13 million undocumented children, even if granted legal identification, lost ten years of public education, health care, government support, etc. which in the end sets them back ten years of their life.

While the 13 million undocumented children essentially lost ten years of their life, the aging population is also at risk as a repercussion to lower replacement rates. According to statistics from the United Nations, in 2010, the child dependency ratio was 25.5% while the old age dependency ratio was 11%. In 2010, the child dependency ratio was 25.5% while the old age dependency ratio was 11%. By 2020, this ratio shifted to 25.2% for children and 17% for those 64 and up due to China’s inverse variation between the aging population and birth rates. While birth rates eventually remain steady around 25%, the old-age dependency ratio still increases tremendously to a projected 58% in 2100. If this trend continues, fewer working populations means less domestic consumption, slower economic growth, greater demand for workers, rising labour wages, less healthcare personnel, and overall greater stress on elderly care which is borne by families and the state. 

Although, as shown, the limitation on household births has harmed the people and future economy of China, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities has allocated significant funding to help reverse damages made. While funding has shifted based on leadership, with previous American President Donald Trump omitting funds in total to UNFPA, throughout the past decade significant programs were still managed to be emplaced.