

In aging China, population crisis forces officials to rethink one-child policy - cwan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121104378.html?hpid=artslot

======
poutine
A demographic implosion of China is all but inevitable now. The 4-2-1 problem
(one child must support 7 people: 2 retired parents and 4 retired
grandparents) will strain the society to the breaking point. And it's too late
to do anything about it.

~~~
cglee
As a Chinese American and an only child because of this law, I find that this
problem will present a lot of opportunities in the coming years. Too late to
do anything about it? Stay tuned.

Edit: I almost forgot that I had been an only child for a long time due to
this law (until my parents could get to the US, that is).

~~~
yangyang
> I find that this problem will present a lot of opportunities in the coming
> years. Too late to do anything about it? Stay tuned.

Care to elaborate?

------
herdrick
_China's one-child policy is arguably the most controversial mandate
introduced by the ruling Communist Party to date._

What? More controversial than the Cultural Revolution or the Great Leap
Forward?

------
tokenadult
"Wang, the human resources administrator, said she wants an only child because
she was one herself: 'We were at the center of our families and used to
everyone taking care of us. We are not used to taking care of and don't really
want to take care of others.'"

That puts a lot of inertia on the side of maintaining the low fertility rate
now seen in China. The low fertility rate, in turn, will keep China's age
structure very unbalanced, and is likely to exacerbate the very unbalanced sex
ratio found there.

