Readjustment to China’s Birth Policy

Since its introduction of the one-child policy for most Chinese couples in the late 1970s， China has effectively reined in its rampant population growth. Benefi ting from the policy， Chinese women have been liberated from the birth burden to a great degree and their education and employment situation has improved dramatically. To promote long-term， balanced development of the population， China is gradually adjusting its family planning policy. On December 23， 2013， a bill to allow couples to have two children if either parent is an only child was approved at the sixth meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National Peoples Congress. The move marks another major adjustment to Chinas family planning policy since the country allowed couples to have two children if both parents are only children.endprint