Managing Population Growth - Case Studies

China has a Strict Birth Control Programme 

China has the largest population of any country in the world - over 1.3 billion 

Different policies have been used to control rapid population growth - the most important is the "one- child policy" introduced in 1979. This means that couples were very strongly encouraged to have only one child.

Couples that only have one child are given benefits like longer maternity leave, better housing and free education for the child. Couples that have more than one child don't get any benefits and are also fined part of their income. 

Over the years, the policy has changed so there are more exceptions: 

In some rural areas couples are allowed to have a second child if the first is a girl, or has a physical disability. This is because more children are still needed to work on farms in rural areas. 

If one of the parents has a disability or if both parents are only children, then couples are allowed to have a second child. This is so there are enough people to look after the parents. 

Effectiveness

The policy has prevented up to 400 million births. The fertility rate (the average number of children a woman will have in her life) has dropped from…