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Updated July 6th, 2021 at 13:23 IST

China's 'one-child' policy left elderly lonely, financially unstable & childless: Study

Millennials now in China are more unwilling to start a family, as they complained about high costs of raising children and disruption to work.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
China
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Several families, approximately millions of Chinese have been left without children, feeling lonely and depressed during their old age as a result of China’s infamous “one-child” policy, a new study has found. China’s assistant professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University, Lihong Shi, published the research data on July 5 which revealed that some of the couples who passed the childbearing age and are now in their late 50s and 60s have been feeling alone, dejected as well as financially unstable due to China’s controversial population control policy. 

Shi’s findings were drawn from the data collected between 1980 to 2015. He interviewed nearly 100 Chinese parents that were either left ‘childless’ or had started the family at the time and ended up losing the only child to a chronic illness. However, the enforced birth limits introduced in the1980s hindered for them to “restart their family’. For years, China’s restrictions that limited most couples to one child slumped the birth rate. The laws were eased in 2015 to allow two, but the total number of births did not soar, as by that time the law had seeped into the culture.

The millennials were more unwilling to start a family, as they complained about the high costs of raising children, problems, and disruption to their jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic further confined the youth to the home isolations, battered economy, and as many lost jobs, many women decided to stall pregnancy. 

[Credit: AP]

Policy for 'population boom' slumps birth rate

According to the study, China had put the “one-child” policy in place for the population boom in the country, but instead, it proved otherwise. This year in May 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinpings’ government scrapped the old law, allowing couples to have up to new three-children. A ruling party meeting led by President Xi Jinping also decided to introduce measures to fix China’s population structure and actively deal with the aging population, particularly those without children. Xinhua reported that the Chinese government decided to raise the retirement age, keep more elderly people in the workforce so they have a means of income, and improve pension and health services for the older population. 

The young couple although still complained about the low incomes and gruelling work schedules known as “996,” or 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week in China, reluctant to raise kids. According to The Associated Press, millennials on Sina Weibo asked, “Who will raise the baby? Do you have time? I go out early and get back late. Kids don’t know what their parents look like” slamming the work schedules. According to the study, China’s age-old rule of early 1970 gave women the freedom to give birth to as many kids as they wanted. More and more families were willing to have children, however, due to the burgeoning population, China launched campaigns for compulsory contraception and even forced abortions. 

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Published July 6th, 2021 at 13:23 IST

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