One of the most momentous events in modern history was China’s adoption of the “one-child” policy in 1980.
The one-child policy limited China’s population growth and, arguably, eliminated the threat of famine and made possible China’s current relative prosperity.
But the Chinese paid a price for this, and not just in brutal violations of human dignity, including forced abortions.
China faces an age imbalance, with an increasing elderly population and a shrinking working-age population.
And China faces a geo-political imbalance. The population of India, China’s chief rival in Asia, will exceed China’s if present trends continue. This affects the balance of power. Bertrand Russell wrote somewhere that if there ever is to be peace among nations, they will have to agree on limitations of population as well as limits on arms.
A demographic transition requires (1) a material standard of living sufficient that couples don’t think they have to have as many children as possible to be assured of survival in old age, and (2) women assured the freedom and knowledge they need to decide how many children they are to have.
The charts above were made before the Chinese government announced its new policy.
China’s one-child policy: a timeline from The Guardian.
The security risks of China’s abnormal demographics by Andrea den Boer and Valerie M. Hudson for The Washington Post in 2014.
China and India: The Asian Giants Are Heading Down Different Demographic Paths by the RAND Corporation in 2011.