China’s population challenges MICHELLE AMORIM NEESHA AZMAT LAUREN GRUBB PERIOD 2 OCTOBER 19 TH, 2015

Aging population  Chinese society has traditionally placed a premium on caring for and honoring its elderly, but there are signs of trouble in an elder care industry that faces a rapidly aging population  Problems that need attention include China's growing obesity rate, high smoking rates among men, and rising levels of urban pollution  As China’s baby boomers age, the country’s health care resources are increasingly strapped  By the end of last year China’s elderly comprised 14 percent of its population  That figure is expected to grow to 25 percent by 2030

Elderly population

One-child policy  Enacted in 1979  Law introduced to slow the exponential population growth  Previous Chinese governments had encouraged people to have a lot of children to increase the country's workforce  Stops couples from having more than 1 child  Purpose: to increase access to universal education, and childcare and healthcare benefits  Enforcement: couples found to have more than one child were stripped of the benefits and fined  Current status: policy has been relaxed in recent years

Population shift  Most have moved during two decades of boom in search of economic opportunities  The historic mass migration from fields to office and apartment blocks ends the country's centuries-long agrarian status  With 75% of Chinese expected to be living in cities within 20 years, the demand for more transport, energy, water and other vital infrastructure is set to test resources and city planners  The Chinese Bureau for National Statistics reported recently that in 2011, the proportion of urban population reached percent (1.3% higher than in 2010) with the urban population standing at million persons, an increase of 21 million persons in a year. China’s rural population stood at million persons and for the first time her urban population was million persons more than the rural population.

Population shift -With 75 per cent of Chinese expected to be living in cities within 20 years -BY 2015 Urban population will surpass rural. By 2030 it will surpass Europe and the U.S. COMBINED -An effect of the one child policy has given China an aging population