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China allows couples to have three children

bbc.com

101–110 of 339 posts

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#101

There is some question on whether the one-child policy was even needed. If you look at a graph of "children per mother" chart before and after the original policy went into effect, it's quite evident that rates were dropping for more than a decade beforehand: * https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2016/october/china... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Birth_rate_in_China.svg * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O…

One Child Policy prevented ~300M births. Currently PRC with 1.4B has 150-200M surplus / idle workers, 600M trapped in low(er)-middle income. PRC has too many people to elevate to upper-middle or high income status within reasonable time and simply not enough resources. Any policy to reduce population was "beneficial". 1.4B is already too much. PRC with population of 1.7B people would fall apart. Crassly, a more severe Great Leap Forward that suppressed current population to "only" 1B would alleviate a lot of strategic stressors. Family planning was completely necessary but came too late and arguably enforced too softly.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#103

Gotta love HN comment section on a story such as this. People here solving math problems more than questioning the power of a government to tell people how many children they are ALLOWED to have.

But perhaps it would have been the right thing to do for governments to limit population growth and not let us breed our way to destruction so fast, unsustainably stripping the earth of its resources and accelerating climate change.

Personally, a one-child limit a few decades ago would have been much more tolerable than face being told in the near future that we can no longer eat meat, drive a car, or travel internationally, amongst other things.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting how the assertion that Chinese people kill infant girls en masse goes completely unchallenged without nuance on this site.

Are there any other explanations for the massive male surplus?

Is adoption murder? Abortion?

Why is it easier to imagine that Chinese people murder infants than it is to imagine literally any other scenario?

Why is it easier to assume that a massive sex imbalance is the result members of a particular group of people being psychopaths rather than the result of some systemic cause? Hmm.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#105
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Killed, or just unreported? Probably both, but I guess more unreported.

Can you raise a unreported child in china? How would that work? With no papers at all and the communist buerocrats also really likes paper about everything. ?

https://thediplomat.com/2015/03/chinas-hidden-children/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/11/30...

It's also China, where they put toxic stuff in watered down milk to make it look as foamy as protein-rich good milk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal , i.e. a place with a lot of corruption and where gaps are possible.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#106

There is some question on whether the one-child policy was even needed. If you look at a graph of "children per mother" chart before and after the original policy went into effect, it's quite evident that rates were dropping for more than a decade beforehand: * https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2016/october/china... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Birth_rate_in_China.svg * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O…

Was what we know now available information for the CCP to make rational decisions. This policy occurred in the shadow of the Cultural Revolution which crippled this nation. I doubt the leadership made rational decisions even if the data was available.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#107
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Killed, or just unreported? Probably both, but I guess more unreported.

Can you raise a unreported child in china? How would that work? With no papers at all and the communist buerocrats also really likes paper about everything. ?

I am amused at the phrase "communist buerocrats [sic]". I live in the United States, where a particular bastard hybrid of socialism and crony capitalism requires that every birth be well documented by bureaucrats.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#109
Globally, population growth is the single biggest problem, IMHO, and it won't be possible to meet both environmental and development targets with current and medium term population numbers.

Sooner than later we will have to adapt to at best constant population, which will mean a large proportion of elderly.

Trying to boost births (as everyone is doing) is just kicking the ball down the road at the expense of the environment.

Now, in China specifically I think lifting restrictions won't have much impact. A child is very expensive and virtually all women work. They would need to look at a welfare system to help families for people to consider having more children. There is also the issue of migrant workers: many people from poorer areas work in richer cities and leave children with grand parents for years on hand. They are not going to have more children just because it is allowed.

Re: China allows couples to have three children

#110
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea , just a random idea , maybe they want to prevent people from the "wrong" group having 10+ children.

Funny you mention it, given that certain minorities were exempt from the "one child" policy, and are likely exempt from this one too.

If this is true I am happy for the clarification.
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