China’s population challenges MICHELLE AMORIM

NEESHA AZMAT

LAUREN GRUBB

PERIOD 2

OCTOBER 19TH, 2015

Aging population

Chinese society has traditionally placed a premium on caring for and honoring its elderly, but there are signs of trouble in an elder care industry that faces a rapidly aging population

Problems that need attention include China's growing obesity rate, high smoking rates among men, and rising levels of urban pollution

As China’s baby boomers age, the country’s health care resources are increasingly strapped

By the end of last year China’s elderly comprised 14 percent of its population That figure is expected to grow to 25 percent by 2030

Elderly population

One-child policy

Enacted in 1979

Law introduced to slow the exponential population growth

Previous Chinese governments had encouraged people to have a lot of children to increase the country's workforce

Stops couples from having more than 1 child

Purpose: to increase access to universal education, and childcare and healthcare benefits

Enforcement: couples found to have more than one child were stripped of the benefits and fined

Current status: policy has been relaxed in recent years

Population shift

Most have moved during two decades of boom in search of economic opportunities

The historic mass migration from fields to office and apartment blocks ends the country's centuries-long agrarian status

With 75% of Chinese expected to be living in cities within 20 years, the demand for more transport, energy, water and other vital infrastructure is set to test resources and city planners

The Chinese Bureau for National Statistics reported recently that in 2011, the proportion of urban population reached 51.27 percent (1.3% higher than in 2010) with the urban population standing at 690.79 million persons, an increase of 21 million persons in a year. China’s rural population stood at 656.56 million persons and for the first time her urban population was 34.23 million persons more than the rural population.

Population shift-With 75 per cent of Chinese expected to be living in cities within 20 years

-BY 2015 Urban population will surpass rural. By 2030 it will surpass Europe and the U.S. COMBINED

-An effect of the one child policy has given China an aging population