Science Homework Help

Week 7 Topic – Population Growth

China has the largest world population. Although China is roughly the same size as the US, it has about 4.6 times as many people. Since 1970, China has made massive efforts to bring its population growth under control. Between 1972 and 1996 China had a sharp decrease in its crude birth rate (from 32 to 17 per 1,000 people. Life expectancy in China is 70 years. China’s per capita income of $530 is higher than that of India. Despite these achievements, its population is projected to reach 1.5 billion by 2025.

To achieve its drop in fertility, China has established a very strict population control program. Couples are strongly urged to postpone the age at which they marry and to have no more than one child. Married couples have easy access to free sterilization, contraceptives and abortion.

Families who pledge to have no more than one child are given extra food, larger pensions, better housing, free medical care, and salary bonuses. Their child will be given free school tuition and preferential treatment in employment. The result is that 81% of married women in China are using modern contraception, compared to 57% in developed countries and only 35% in developing countries.

The United Nations projects that the population of China may reach 1.7 billion before reaching zero population growth, probably around 2100, mostly because 27% of the population was under age 15 in 1996. To slow its growth, the Chinese government is now putting more emphasis on improving the status of women, providing old age security, and improving family planning and health services for mothers and children.

China’s large and still growing population has a tremendous environmental impact. China has 21% of the world’s population, but only 7% of its freshwater and cropland, 3% of its forests, and 2% of its soil. Most of the nation’s rivers (especially in urban areas) are seriously polluted.

What is your opinion regarding China’s population policy? Do you think that you could use it in the United States (or your country of origin?)