Things That Would Happen if Every Couple Had Just One Child

The world’s population has now reached a staggering 8 billion in 2022, and it’s estimated to grow another billion by 2050. Naturally, many people are wondering what this will mean for the future of our planet as we’re already exhausting our precious, limited resources. An idea that’s entertained every now and then is the one child policy, like the one China used to have. Sure, it would bring our numbers down, but at what cost? Here are five terrible things that would happen if every couple in the world had just one child.\r \r 1. There’d Be A Massive Gender Imbalance\r \r Much of the world is still very much male-identified and treats women like second class citizens who don’t share the same rights as their counterparts. So implementing a one-child policy would mean that most couples would be hoping for a son and if they get a daughter instead, they’d simply abandon her. This is why China has such a huge gender imbalance in their population, with over 30 million more men than women. Now apply this to the rest of the world, could you see how bad things could get?\r \r 2. Eventual Extinction\r \r Another obvious side effect of the one child policy would be the quick decline of our population and the eventual extinction of our species. It would start out slowly, then quickly become more apparent over time until the last of humanity dies out in a mere 33 generations. This will definitely be brought on by an extreme gender imbalance due to people preferring to have sons over daughters. With so little women around, most men will never get a chance to pass on their genes, making our numbers even smaller.\r \r 3. A More Sustainable World\r \r As humanity slowly breeds itself out of existence, much of the economic and social issues will slowly go away. According to a 2014 study, a low birth rate can in fact lead to an economic boom for wealthier countries. Take for instance China, where a single generation of the one-child law prevented the births of an additional 300 million people. Now if you multiply that figure by the current population of the world, we won’t have to worry about feeding 2 billion extra mouths!\r \r 4. A Massive Increase in Government Bureaucracy\r \r For a one child policy to work, the government would have to get involved in order to ensure that everyone is following the rules. It would also mean rewriting many laws and even amending the American Constitution. Take for instance in China, where at the height of their one child policy, the state was forced to employ nearly half a million people full time just to ensure that no one was breaking the law. Doing this would lead to the government further inserting themselves into our everyday lives.\r \r 5. Creating a Generation of Little Emperors\r \r On a much smaller scale, the one child policy would lead to generations full of only children. At first glance, this doesn’t sound too bad, but a child being raised without siblings could lead to the only child syndrome where the “little emperors” as they’re known in China, get everything they ask for. They’re also the center of their parents’ attention and basically never really learn how to compromise and cooperate with others. This makes them very much ill-equipped to deal with the real world. And remember, it’s not just a handful of children but an entire generation.