薮下研究室

Reading Drill No.11

  The strict birth control policies have serious economic consequences too.  China’s limited number of workers and its aging population mean that it will eventually lose its position as workshop of the world, says Zuo Xuejin, Vice President of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.  Indeed, the future of the one-child policy was a hot topic at a recent session of China’s parliament.  But waiting for changes to arrive ended when Population Minister Zhang Wieqing said the policy would stay in place for another decade.
The academics say that’s a mistake.  “It’s better to just let couples decide how many children they want,” Peng Xizhe says.  Zuo Xuejin adds that giving birth “is a very basic right of citizens” that should not be interfered with.  One reason the academics believe people should take control of their one family planning is China’s rapidly aging population.  Longer lives and the one-child policy mean fewer workers are supporting ever more senior citizens.  The falling part of a state-run social security network means that many senior citizens, like Wang Jintao, now fear a lonely future.  He says, “I worry that when I’m older no one will take care of me.  At that time, I think my life will become very terrible.  Our government never worried about that.” Wang believes he’s voicing the fears of an entire generation.  “Thirty years ago, our government made a mistake,”  he says,  “The result is that in big cities, most of the people my age, they’re worried about their future.”  China is now heading towards its aging future.  Experts warn that the danger is not changing the one-child policy too soon―it’s in moving too late.
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