The Chinese  government  has  announced  the end of its   one-child  policy. It has been  in effect   since 1979 and has slowed down population  growth  in China for over three  decades. Without the policy, China would probably have a total of 1.7  billion  people instead of the 1.3 billion it has today. Now Chinese  couples  can officially have two children.

The decision comes at a time when Chinese  authorities  are worried about their country's  ageing   population. China's economic growth is endangered  because fewer young workers are entering the  workforce . At the moment, about a third of China's  population is over 50. By 2050, over 35 % of the population will be over 65.

China started its  family planning   policy,  aimed  at slowing down population growth, at the end of the 1970s.  Couples who had a second child had to pay  fines  and suffered from  disadvantages  at work. The single child of a family was  supported  by state  benefits  and free education up to a university  degree. While this policy  focused  mainly on  urban areas, families in  rural  China were allowed to have two children if the first was a girl. The policy led to hundreds of thousands of  abortions  over the decades.  Illegally -born girls were often laid away or adopted by westerners. This has led to a  gender imbalance   in China.

Human rights   organizations continue to criticize China's population planning. They say the new  regulations  simply change a one-child policy into a two-child policy. Women still do not have the right to  determine  how many children they want to have.