China plans to cease new births by 2025.

Hey there! Let's dive into China's family planning policy transformation over the past few decades. Since the post-revolution era, these policies have beautifully danced between population control and liberalization.

In the pre-One-Child era (1949–1978), policies promoted population growth, though voluntary family planning was occasionally encouraged. Fast forward to the 1970s, and China embraced a voluntary two-child policy with slogans like "Late, Long, Few."

Then came the One-Child Policy era (1979–2015), where China strikingly enforced strict birth limits. This saw the advent of fines, forced sterilizations, abortions, and even infanticide in some instances. However, there were exceptions for rural families and ethnic minorities. The policy softened slightly in 2013 to allow second children, if either parent was a single child.

Transitions towards a more lenient policy began in 2015, when the One-Child Policy formally ended, replaced by a universal Two-Child Policy effective January 2016. Despite a brief rise in birth rates, they soon declined due to high childcare costs and shifting social attitudes.

Now, we're in the era of the Three-Child Policy and Beyond (2021–Present). This new policy was announced in May 2021, accompanied by financial incentives such as tax breaks, housing subsidies, and education support. In 2022, China experienced a population decline for the first time in six decades, further emphasizing the need for policy changes.

Looking ahead, China is implementing expanded parental leave, childcare subsidies, and other measures to boost fertility as the persistent low birth rates remain a concern. These shifts in policy have been primarily driven by economic pressures resulting from an aging population and labor shortages, cultural shifts brought about by urbanization and rising education costs, and food security debates that some officials initially opposed, though experts criticized this as outdated.

China's family planning policies continue to strike a delicate balance between demographic control and economic and social stability in well-meaning, yet sometimes controversial ways. Keep an eye on this evolving saga!

Over the years, Chinese politics have seen significant shifts in family planning policies, from promoting population growth to enforcing strict birth limits, and now moving towards a Three-Child Policy.
The One-Child Policy era, in particular, was marked by numerous restrictions, such as fines, forced sterilizations, and even infanticide in some instances, which were later eased slightly with the introduction of the Two-Child Policy.
Under the current Three-Child Policy, China is offering financial incentives like tax breaks, housing subsidies, and education support to encourage larger families, as the aging population and labor shortages pose economic challenges.
In response to the first population decline in six decades in 2022, China is implementing additional measures like expanded parental leave, childcare subsidies, and other policies aimed at boosting fertility, as low birth rates continue to be a concern.