SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
It's common for media and academics to cite the statistic that China's one-child policy has led to anywhere from 30 million to 60 million "missing girls" that has created a gender imbalance in the world's most populous nation.
But a University of Kansas researcher is a co-author of a study that has found those numbers are likely overblown, and that a large number of those girls aren't missing at all—it was more of an administrative story that had to do with how births are registered at local levels in China.
"People think 30 million girls are missing from the population. That's the population of California, and they think they're just gone," said John Kennedy, a KU associate professor of political science. "Most people are using a demographic explanation to say that abortion or infanticide are the reasons they don't show up in the census, and that they don't exist. But we find there is a political explanation."
The 2010 Chinese census found the sex ratio at birth was 118 males for every 100 females. Globally the average is about 105 males to females. In 2015, Chinese state media announced all couples would be allowed to have two children, signaling the end of the controversial 35-year-old policy, but scholars and policymakers are examining how the ban could have lasting social influence in China on everything from elderly care to political stability.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 05 2016, @01:42AM
Alternatively when the population is growing too fast the government can then control the population by reducing the number of rights each person is endowed with. For instance they can decide that each person is only entitled to have 3/4 of a child and rights can be sold in 1/4 increments. Each couple can have 1 & 1/2 children (ie: only one child) but if they want to have a second child they can buy half a right from someone else willing to sell to make two whole rights. When the population begins to shrink the government can adjust the number of endowed rights each person is allowed to have (ie: with a stimulus plan giving people more rights) or they can sell rights on the open market.