- 13.3% of Chinese citizens are over 60, a 3% rise over the last decade, and a bad sign for the government — it’s hard to run a manufacturing economy with such an aged population
- 16.6% of Chinese citizens are under 14, outpacing the elderly in the strictest sense, but in reality a very worrisome sign for China’s long-term economic and societal health source
- » And the youth of China knows it, too: Said Zheng Aiwen, a 22-year-old student: “As soon as I saw the census results, I thought I have to hurry up and get married and have children, two if possible. I am quite worried about the economic pressure of caring for my parents and also about not being supported myself in my old age.” Despite this worrisome trend, the Chinese government won’t lift their one child per family policy, at least not yet — officials claim it has prevented about 400 million additional citizens, even as its biggest practical flaw (setting aside the deeply unpleasant moral breach most Westerners would view it as) seems to be coming home to roost.
