Final answer:
China's one-child policy, introduced in 1979, controversially aimed to control population growth and address associated environmental, economic, and social issues.
Step-by-step explanation:
Its success is disputed due to negative social impacts, already declining fertility rates, and the uncertain effectiveness of harsh enforcement measures. The policy was eased in 2016 to allow more children, reflecting a shift in government strategy.
The one-child policy introduced by China in 1979 was implemented to curb the rapid population growth and ensure the country's sustainable development. While it did lead to a reduction of China's potential population by hundreds of millions, the policy's effectiveness is controversial.
It aimed to address environmental, economic, and social issues by limiting families in urban areas to a single child, with exceptions for rural populations, ethnic minorities, and regions like Macau and Hong Kong.
The policy's strict enforcement through both incentives and penalties did result in a slower population growth and significant demographic changes, including an increase in the median age and a skewed sex ratio due to a cultural preference for male children.
This led to negative consequences such as sex-selective abortions and female infanticide. Given the assertion that three-fourths of China's population supports the policy and it contributed to the reduction of the population size, its success may be seen by some metrics.
However, these effects came at a great social cost, and the Chinese government relaxed the policy in 2016, allowing for more children in families.
While the one-child policy had a role in reducing the amount of China's population growth, China's fertility rates were already declining before the policy was introduced. Due to underreporting of births in the late 1980s, the full impact of the policy was uncertain.
Looking at the global scale, the human population continues to grow, and it is unclear whether such population control policies will ultimately prevent a resource crisis due to the exponential nature of population growth as projected by organizations like the United Nations.