Key events in China’s family-planning policy
By Associated Press | October 30, 2015, 6:31 EDT
BEIJING (AP) — China’s Communist Party says all families will be allowed to have two children, ending the 1-child restriction that’s lasted more than three decades. Key events in the history of China’s family-planning policy:
1953: Chinese leaders suggest that the population should be controlled and approve a law on contraception and abortion, but the plan is stranded by political upheaval and the 1959-1961 famine.
1970: Chinese population exceeds 800 million. The State Council, China’s Cabinet, mandates sharp reductions in population growth rates throughout the 1970s.
1975: China adopts the slogan “Later, Longer and Fewer” and urges urban couples to have no more than two children and rural couples no more than three.
1979: The Communist Party introduces the one-child policy limiting couples of the Han ethnic majority to one child as a temporary measure to curb a surging population.
1984: An adjustment of the policy allows a second child for many families in rural areas.
2001: China decrees new laws to better administer the policy, including allowing local governments to impose fines for additional children.
2006: Some provinces begin easing restrictions to allow couples who are both only children to have two children.
2013: An exemption allows two children in families in which only one parent is an only child.
2015: China’s Communist Party says all couples will be allowed to have two children, but doesn’t give a timeframe.
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