Report from St. Mary Redcliffe and Temple School on ‘Population issues in China’

by Nathan Griffin, Year 12 St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School, reporting on lecture by Dr. Simon Arlidge, UWE.

The lecture on the 18th of September 2014 was located at the Peel lecture theatre at the University of Bristol. The lecture examined population growth in China and how government policy intervention rapidly reduced population growth in order to stabilize it to reduce the risk of famine. A key issue that the lecture raised was the numerous impacts of the One Child Policy. There is now a great gender imbalance within China as there are a greater number of males compared to females due to the Chinese preference for boys to carry on the family name, maintain income and support for parents. The lecture also focused on the future, stating that after peaking around 2040, the Chinese population will start to decline rapidly due to its ageing characteristics, perhaps leaving only 900 million Chinese by the end of the century. The shrinking economically-active population in China means there is a lot of stress on state and home-provided care. I really enjoyed the fact that the lecture was packed full of current information that gave a very different perspective on the One Child Policy. It also gave a great insight into university education.