“India vs China: Population Control Strategies and Their Impact”

Jakarta –

About 50 years ago, India and China had the same birth rate. India at 5.6 children per woman, while China 5.5 per woman. This figure is far above the replacement-fertility level of 2.1 to maintain population stability.

But along the way, China and India have different policies in matters of population control.

India’s Slow But Sure Strategy

India has been planning its family planning program since 1952. The path India has chosen has been so winding and slow but sure.

India provides reproductive health services, contraceptive options for couples, and the freedom to decide how many children they want.

“This strategy was not immediately successful. The initial population growth rate increased from 21.6 percent in 1961 to 24.8 percent in 1971,” said Executive Director of the Indian Population Foundation Poonam Muttreja as quoted from AlgeriaFriday (5/5/2023).

“The population increased from 439 million to 548 million. Most of it was the result of an increase in life expectancy which rose from 45 years to 49 years in that decade,” he continued.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi briefly imposed a national emergency in 1975 because of the drastically inflated numbers. The government even used coercion to sterilize people, especially men.

However, in 1977 the state of emergency was lifted and a return to its old ways. Finally India’s population growth rate started to decline since 1981 and the trend has continued until today.

“In 1991 India’s fertility rate decreased to 4, then decreased to 3.3 in 2001 and 2.5 in 2011. Finally in 2020 India will reach replacement-level fertility. This is an important milestone in its demographic transition,” he explained.

China’s Fast But Turbulent Strategy

In the 1970s, China immediately experienced a very significant decline in its birth rate, even below the replacement-level of fertility, which was 1.3. This incident finally forced China to make a series of policies so that the birth rate could rise.

This drastic decrease can occur because the government has set an age limit for marriage where women are at least 23 years old, while men are 25 years old. The bamboo curtain country’s birth rate immediately dropped from the previous 5.5 births per woman in 1971 to 2.7 births in 1979.

Feeling that these results were not enough, the Chinese government in 1979 even imposed the one-child rule and fined couples who gave birth to more than one child. Not only that, forced sterilization and abortion were also carried out at that time.

“China has now realized how that policy has backfired, leading to a higher male than female sex ratio and a rapidly aging population,” said Poonam.

“The government finally changed its policy in 2016 to allow families to have two children and raise the bar to three in 2021,” he continued.

In 2022, China’s population will shrink for the first time in 60 years to reach 1 million people.

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(dec/naf)