Demographic Structure and Dependancy Ratios
The 'demographic disaster' of the Great Leap Forward was followed by a baby boom in the mid-1960s and the economy began to recover.
Throughout the 1970s politicians sought to bring about a drastic reduction in family size as they realised that a huge population threatened to outgrow the available resources. What emerged was the 'one child policy'
Since the introduction of the one-child policy, the fertility rate in China has fallen from over three births per woman in 1980 (already a sharp reduction from more than five births per woman in the early 1970s) to approximately 1.8 births in 2008
China currently has an aging population, as shown in the population pyramid below from 2005.
The aging population means that the dependency ratio will increase. The rise in the dependency ratio is likely to lead to a fall in savings rates.
The reduction in the fertility rate and thus the decrease of population growth has reduced the severity of problems that come with overpopulation, like epidemics, slums, overwhelmed social services
