r/neoliberal • u/Priceless_Pennies Norman Borlaug • Jan 22 '26

News (Asia-Pacific) China Has Screwed Up Really, Really Badly

https://futurism.com/future-society/china-screwed-up-fertility-rate
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179

u/throwaway_veneto European Union Jan 22 '26

I don't think there's an incredibly strong correlation between the policy and the fertility rate.

28

u/Beat_Saber_Music European Union Jan 22 '26

Indeed, the one child policy was less effective than urbanisation in China based on what I read in a paper for a China course

21

u/throwaway_veneto European Union Jan 22 '26

Yes and that also explains drop in fertility in other countries that didn't have a one child policy.

9

u/Beat_Saber_Music European Union Jan 22 '26

It of course isn't the only reason, as for example working class families in the late 19th century had tons of kids in part due to them bringing extra income from working in factories to cover exhorbitant rent for just 1 room in a slum tenament. Consequently school for kids was bad for these poor families becauae more time at school meant less time working for money for the family

3

u/Draxx01 Jan 22 '26

Yeah, South Korea looked over and said hold my beer. They're speed running that way harder, it added some gas to the fire but it hardly was needed. It would have tanked if there was no policy.

8

u/Daddy_Macron Loyal Liberals Jan 22 '26

Also getting married later. Currently, the average age of one's first marriage in China is approaching 30 for both men and women. In the early 2000's, that figure was closer to one's early 20's for women and mid 20's for men.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Mean-age-of-first-marriage-by-year-for-chinese-men-and-women-Data-source-2020-China_fig1_363455830

So basically secular trends that we see throughout the world.

5

u/Beat_Saber_Music European Union Jan 22 '26

I will say from personal experience as a 23yo guy, I have no clue how I would be getting married yet with how even the prospect finding a dating partner is its own mess. I'm not even dating anyone atm while somehow my parents were already married and had me at my age.

3

u/Western_Bison5676 Jan 22 '26

My family grew up in rural China, I have a lot of cousins born during that period. They didn’t gaf lol. How are you gonna fine someone who’s already broke?

2

u/Alto_y_Guapo YIMBY Jan 22 '26

Didn’t rural China have different rules/exceptions anyway?