China overturns one-child policy.

China has decided to end its decades-long one-
child policy, the state-run Xinhua news agency
reports.
Couples will now be allowed to have two children,
it said, citing a statement from the Communist
Party.
The controversial policy was introduced nationally
in 1979, to slow the population growth rate.
It is estimated to have prevented about 400
million births. However concerns at China's
ageing population led to pressure for change.
Couples who violated the one-child policy faced a
variety of punishments, from fines and the loss
of employment to forced abortions.
Over time, the policy has been relaxed in some
provinces, as demographers and sociologists
raised concerns about rising social costs and
falling worker numbers.
The decision to allow families to have two
children was designed "to improve the balanced
development of population'' and to deal with an
aging population, according to the statement
from the Community Party's Central Committee
carried by the official Xinhua News Agency (in
Chinese) on Thursday.
Currently about 30% of China's population is over
the age of 50. The total population of the country
is around 1.36 billion.
The Communist Party began formally relaxing
national rules two years ago, allowing couples in
which at least one of the pair is an only child to
have a second child.

Culled from bbc.com