China y la planificación familiar: La política del hijo único [China and family planning: The one-child policy]

When the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, its demographic goals included reducing mortality, increasing life expectancy, and controlling overpopulation. To this end, since 1956 a series of family planning policies or campaigns have been implemented to prevent uncontrolled population growth. In 1979, the fourth of these campaigns was approved, which included the one-child policy, in force until 2015. Our intention is to present a balance of family planning policies in China, studying the theoretical aspects of the demographic transition, briefly reviewing each of these campaigns, detailing the particularities of the one-child policy, and finally, analyzing the consequences.

Keywords: China, demografía, planificación familiar, política del hijo único.

When the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, its demographic goals included reducing mortality, increasing life expectancy, and controlling overpopulation. To this end, since 1956 a series of family planning policies or campaigns have been implemented to prevent uncontrolled population growth. In 1979, the fourth of these campaigns was approved, which included the one-child policy, in force until 2015. Our intention is to present a balance of family planning policies in China, studying the theoretical aspects of the demographic transition, briefly reviewing each of these campaigns, detailing the particularities of the one-child policy, and finally, analyzing the consequences.

Keywords: China, demography, family planning, one-child policy.

在1949年中国人民共和国宣告成立时，其人口方面的目标就有降低死亡率、延长预期寿命和管控过量人口。为实现这一点，自1956年以来，中国采取一系列计划生育的政策或运动，寻求避免人口无节制的增长。在1979年，第四次运动展开，其中包括了独生子女政策，这一政策一直生效到2015年。本文希望对中国的计划生育政策做一个梳理总结，研究人口变迁理论方面的问题，简要回顾前文所提到的各次运动，详细介绍独生子女政策的特点，并在最后分析其政策后果。

关键词：中国，人口，计划生育，独生子女政策。