Most Western countries have birth rates lower than those required for population stability. Growth is due to immigration from outside sources, not large families.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

Good post. As an American kid, I had always wondered about that policy. I believe it's great that China attempted to control a huge yet rising population because there are so many issues that may arise: a lack of resources and squeezing the entire population within the country. I don't mind taking care of the elderly, or when my parents become older, because I can't see myself placing them in a nursing home unless it's absolutely necessary. To each their own with family or cultural traditions. I prefer to keep some requests from my mother like allowing her to live near me when she gets older. Although I am of Chinese ancestry and prefer to keep some family traditions, I have noticed that other Chinese American families practice diverse traditions as well. It just depends on each family, but I am glad that you brought up that idea because it is an intriguing question. Overall, I thought this article was interesting because it touches on the author's experiences and the current policy change. I really liked your comment too because you and the author discuss similar experiences under the former policy, which is now about to change. I am hoping for positive outcomes, and will stay tuned!

You seriously misunderstand population dynamics. Each child has two parents. Thus, if each parent has two children, the population stays constant. It does not grow exponentially as you claim.

I agree with you completely. It would be ideal if parents could have as many children as they wanted, but we are facing a shortage of resources to sustain ever-increasing populations, not to mention thousands of children with no parents, sometimes we have to make small sacrifices.

The only problem I have with the One-Child Policy is, as the author mentions, the aborting of female fetuses in favor of male children, creating a Missing Daughter phenomenon. Where the policy fails is that there was no education addressing this issue, which although initially unforeseen, became an apparent problem later on; or rather, the policy failed to address the concerns that rural families had in family planning. However, lack of comprehensive education on social issues is still an ongoing problem in much of China now.