INDIA PROPOSES TWO-CHILD POLICY

With population numbers rising daily and the economy struggling to keep up, India is proposing a two-child policy in two of its states.

Coinciding with World Population Day on the 11th of July, India proposed new population measures in Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

Uttar Pradesh is currently the most populous state in India and home to more than 240 million people. The draft Bill to pass the proposed legislation is open for public comments until the 19th of July.

According to a 2019 UN report, India is currently expected to overtake China as the world's most populous country by 2027. A Unicef report estimates that around 25 million children are born annually in India. This number accounts for a fifth of the world's annual births.

While India hasn't gone as far as China by fining couples for having more than two children per family, Insider reports that the two-child policy in Uttar Pradesh would give cash benefits to couples who opt for voluntary sterilisation. Meanwhile, those who choose to have more than two kids could have their government subsidies taken away.

For decades, China had a one-child policy in place to curb its population numbers. In 2016, they changed the policy to allow couples to have two children per family. This decision was made in order to raise the dwindling population numbers.

Image credit: Phys