Why relaxing the one-child policy is not helping an aging society

Pleading for birth control via Wikipedia

Every now and then politicians everywhere in the world, including China, contemplate their fast aging societies and see in increasing the number of children as a good alternative for migration, like reported here in Global Voices Online. In China that develops in the context of the one-child policy, a policy that has greatly helped the country to leap out of poverty.
The other day I encountered some nice arguments explaining why raising more children is not going to help todays aging societies. (It was a TV program I watched with only a half eye, I have no link, but recall the argument).
Raising more children - and thus relaxing the one-child policy - was considered to be the wrong method, since those children will not mature fast enough to help those aging people. They will be grown up, when those old people do not need help anymore. In stead, you have helped to crease a new demographic bubble that will need expensive schools, houses, work while they grow up. So, they actually make the problems of an aging society worse in stead of better.
A small thought on relaxing the one-child policy.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Letter from China: Navigating Child Policy in China (nytimes.com)