The BBC had an interesting report last week talking about the struggle that China is now encountering with their aging population. They are struggling with welfare for the aged population, experiencing large labour shortages and jobs are leaving China for countries where there is a larger labour pool. By 2050 it is estimated that over a third of Chinese people will be over 60.
Below are some audio clips from the BBC report about the problem, and how China appears to be relaxing its’ one-child policy:
[audio:http://dropbox.curry.com/ShowNotesArchive/2012/05/NA-411-2012-05-24/Assets/JCD%20Clips/untold%20story%20about%20china.mp3]To give you an idea about that China’s one-child policy is, here is an excerpt from the wikipedia article.
The one-child policy is the one-child limitation in the population control policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy. It officially restricts married, urban couples to having only one child, while allowing exemptions for several cases, including rural couples, ethnic minorities, and parents without any siblings themselves.
Here is a good visualisation of the aging population…
Image source: Wikipedia
That would be good news!