Describe the unintended consequences of China's one-child policy

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Although China's one-child policy was successful in slowing China's population growth, the policy has resulted in a shrinking labor force, increasing numbers of old people, and too few women. Because Chinese women have been having fewer children, there are not enough workers to maintain China's growing economy and to support the older citizens who rely on government support. China cannot produce goods as cheaply as it once did and faces the risk of its industries relocating to countries with cheaper and more readily available labor. Because Chinese culture favors sons over daughters, selective abortion of female fetuses and the killing and abandonment of female infants became common practice once the policy went into effect. As a result of the skewed sex ratio, many young Chinese men cannot find brides and are forced to remain bachelors. China relaxed its one-child policy in 2015, but demographers believe that the move was too late to defuse the socioeconomic "time bomb," and, in fact, most Chinese couples no longer want to have more than one child.