Morning Briefing

The Guardian examines China's one-child policy and its impact. The newspaper writes that "the description of the system as a 'one-child policy' is misleading. Most married women in China have the chance to bear two offspring, but the entitlement to breed beyond a solitary child is determined by a complex set of rules" and factors. In fact, the policy's "countless adjustments over the past 30 years have created a mind-bogglingly complex system that touches on everything from contraception and sterilization to pensions and tax incentives," according to the Guardian. The newspaper notes that "across all of China, the government claims there would be more than 300 million more children without the family planning policy" and that "the nation's population is forecast to peak around 2030," leading "many [to] say the family planning policy had outlived its usefulness." It also describes the policy's effects in Henan Province, which "claims some of the greatest successes in taming demographic growth through its family planning policies" (Watts 10/25).