Henan
I. Basic Figures
II. Population Situation
Henan has a large population; the total population in 1997 was 92.43 million, the 1st of China. The population density is high; the distribution is uneven, there are less in the western parts, and more in the east. The proportion of city population is low. Minority population increases quickly; its proportion has been raised.
The process of population development in Henan can be divided into 5 periods since the establishment of new China:
1949~1958 was the period of fast population increase, about 850 thousands increase annually; the 1st peak of fertility in Henan since 1949 was observed;
1962~1973 was the period of over-speed increase with an annual rate of 27.65‰, average 1.43 million increase annually; the 2nd peak of fertility was observed;
1974~1977 the speed of increase slowed down, 1.1 million increase annually;
1978~1985 was the period of steady increase with an annual rate of 14.17‰, and 1.11 million increase annually;
1986~1990 population increased fast, the annual increase rate was 19.33‰, average 1.6 million increase annually.
The sex ratio of Henan population is normal on the whole. But it is higher in low age group. In the year of 1997, population of age 0~14 made 26.72% of the total; 15~64 made 66.44% of the total; and population of age 65 and above made 6.84%. The total dependency ratio was 50.51%, with the ratio of children 40.22%. The proportion of children decreases and labor population goes up, such an age structure is beneficial to population and economic development.
Fertility changes of Henan population experienced 2 peaks and 2 troughs. At present, it is in the 3rd peak of birth. An obvious fertility difference exists between different age groups and between rural and urban. Fertility before legal marriage age was low. Fertility pattern changed from almost natural to controlled. According to projection, the size of natural increase population will decrease gradually. Negative population increase will appear before the middle of next century. Total population will still increase in the province, but will not go beyond 0.13 billion.
Mortality changes of Henan population experienced 4 periods: sharp-decrease period, fluctuated period, slow decrease period and steady period. The mortality curve changed from U-shaped to J-shaped pattern. Infant mortality had gone down quickly; labor population mortality is low on the whole; old population mortality is high. The mortality rates in different areas are quite different.
After the founding of new China, the average life expectancy raised rapidly with sharp decrease of mortality rate. Life expectancy was 69.96 years old in the 90’s. Female’s life expectancy is higher than that of male in every age group. There are differences of life expectancy between rural and urban. The major causes of death among adults are cancer and heart disease.
Marriage of Henan population is stable; majority population is in marriage status; only a few divorced and the proportion of divorced population is low. There was more widowed female than male among the population of 40 years old and above; the difference enlarged as age increases.
The increase of family size was faster than the increase of family household before 1980’s, then was slower after 1980’s. Family type is the same between rural and urban on the whole; the majority is nuclear family. Family becomes smaller and smaller.
The aging process in Henan is fast; and the speed of rural population aging was faster than urban population. In 1997, population of age 65 and above was 6.322 million, made 6.84% of the total. According to projection, 1990~2009 is the period of aging initiation; 2010~2030 will be the period of speeding up of aging; 2031~2050 will be the peak period of aging. In 2050, total aged population will be 28.35 million in the province, makes 24.4% of the total population.
Educational undertaking in Henan province has made great progress since 1949. Illiteracy population is declining and other education level population is increasing. In 1997, the total population of illiteracy was 10.08 million, illiteracy ratio was 14.88‰. Education level of employed population in service industry is higher than in secondary industry, and secondary industry higher than primary industry; male higher than female; and urban higher than rural.
Education level of Henan population is low on the whole; illiteracy population is relatively large with new entrants.
With reform development, migration size and mobility size has been enlarged. The proportion of in-migration caused by marriage has been decreased, but the one caused by finding job or doing business has been increased, the sex ratio of migrants has been changed a lot, their education level improved. Among the in-migration population, the proportion work in agriculture declined. The main reasons of mobility are finding job, doing business, and training, the mobility population mainly are the people of age 18~35 who graduated from junior secondary school or senior secondary school. In-migration size is small and the proportion of in-migration caused by finding job or doing business is also small because Henan is a less developed province. Migration pattern will not change in the following years.
Henan province makes good use of resource, improves the environments that do not fit living and production. The large population size and fast population growth put large pressure on land use; there was overuse of forest resource; environment pollution aggravates.
III. Family Planning
History
1. Period of Family Planning Initiation (1956-1966)
The family Planning work of Henan was initiated in 1956 when it was under the leadership of Provincial Department of Public Health. The idea of fertility regulation spread among the masses through a publicity month from July to August in 1957. On July 1963, the Provincial Family Planning Commission was established, so did that of cities and counties. From 1963 to 1966, the focal point of work was in urban areas while only some experimental sites were established in rural areas. During this period, three fields were stressed in the work: publicity of fertility regulation, rewarding to volunteers use contraception and necessary technical support.
2. Period of Carrying out Family Planning on a Large Scale (1971-1978)
In 1971, the Provincial Family Planning Office was established. The Provincial Family Planning Commission was reestablished later in 1973. In this period, a series of policies were made to promote “later marriage, longer spacing and smaller family size”, “one child for one couple”, and “two children with 4~5 year spacing.” Contraception supply and distribution were also improved.
3. New Era of Family Planning (1979-1993)
After 1979, the Family Planning Leading Groups were established at all levels with main local officials as the leaders. The provincial government decided to set up Responsibility System of Population Management, which required that population growth should be put into the whole plan of social development. Meanwhile, the investment increased annually and all relative organizations and offices were established. In 1979, the Population Association was founded, so did the Family Planning Association in 1982, which did much work through the effective cooperation with family planning departments.
During this period, policies and regulations on family planning were issued and perfected step by step, an education and publicity network was established to further carry out family planning work. Many other measures such as “integrated approaches”, family planning insurance and so on were also taken to enhance the work.
Major Achievements
1. The total fertility rate and age-specific fertility rate declined very fast. The fast population growth has been controlled. With the decline of fertility, the birth rate also dropped gradually from 31.3‰ in 1971 to 13.97‰ in 1997.
2. The age structure changed from young to adult. Consequently the total dependency ratio declined and the percentage of labor-age population rose, which ensure adequate labor resources for economic development.
3. The ideas of marriage and fertility have been changed. The norm of “late marriage and later, fewer and healthier births” has been formed. As to the parity-specific birth rate, the proportion of one-child births rose rapidly while that of two-child births dropped gradually. In 1997, the former was 72.37%.
4. The control of population growth has an obvious beneficial result. Since 1971, the population birth rate has been decreasing gradually and smoothly, and the population development has stepped on the way of a virtuous circle. The great achievements of population control have created a favorable environment for social development. It also eases the burden of people, enhances the financial accumulation and has an obvious beneficial result on the social and economic development of the whole province.
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