China’s Population Structure

At the moment, a large proportion of the Chinese population is working age (71%). 21% of the population are young dependents, and only 8% are old dependents. This is good distribution of ages for a county, in terms of its economy, and it has been a major factor in China’s recent economic growth. However, the average age of the Chinese population is increasing. This is occurring as China moves into Stage 4 of the Demographic Transition Model. In Stages 2 and 3, the birth rate was much higher than the death rate. Many babies were born during this time period. When the birth rate dropped, and China moved into Stage 4, a ‘bulge’ was left in the population, because of the babies born during Stages 2 and 3. This is shown in the age pyramid for China. The ‘bulge’ is now moving through the population and will soon reach old dependent age. There are also fewer children being born, because of the One Child Policy. This could cause a major issue in the future, as there could possibly be more old dependents than people who are working age, and they won’t get looked after as well as they should be. Also, this will negatively impact China’s economic growth.

In China, there are 118 males for every 100 females. The main reason for this is the One Child Policy. Because parents can only have one child, they will almost always want a boy, in order to help out on the farm, and to carry on the family name. This creates many issues. Many couples, even though it is supposed to be illegal, attempt find out the sex of their baby. This leads to sex-selective abortions, as many couples choose to abort if they find out that they have a girl. Girls are also often mistreated, and even abandoned. All of this has caused the gender imbalance. Because of the gender imbalance, many of the next generation of men will not be able to find a wife. This has created a major problem, in that girls are being kidnapped and sold to parents, to be brought up and marry their son.   Another issue is that as most children are an only child, their parents tend to spoil them. They are often referred to as ‘Little Emperors’ because they are used to being spoilt, and given what they want. This could cause a problem in work ethic in future generations of people who are of working age.

There have been many changes in the population size and structure of China, and there will be many more in the future. Many of these changes result in major issues, which have significant impacts on China and its population.