AS THE EUROPEANS HAVE DISCOVERED...:

China considers ending one-child policy (Tania Branigan, 2/28/08, guardian.co.uk)

China could scrap its one-child policy, a senior family planning official said today, acknowledging concerns about its effects in creating an ageing society and gender gap. [...]

Although the population has yet to peak – it is expected to rise from 1.3 billion now to 1.5 billion in 2033 - the birth rate has dropped below the replacement rate of 2.1. [...]

Zhao also acknowledged the problems posed by the longstanding cultural preference for boys and warned that in future the use of ultrasound to predict the sex of a child – and terminate female fetuses – could become "a big issue" for China.

It already has 118 male births for every 100 female; way above the global "normal" ratio of between 103 and 107 boys for every 100 girls.

...it's easy to dehumanize your society, hard to reverse the process.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 28, 2008 7:27 AM