The fairy-tale story of Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil, who was born in China, but went on to win Canada’s first gold medal in swimming, brings into sharp focus China’s failed one-child policy. Maggie was abandoned by her biological parents after being born in China in February 2000. One year later, she was adopted as a toddler along with her younger sister from a local orphanage in China. Maggie and her sister were presumably abandoned as a result of China’s one-child policy which came into effect in 1980. As couples were allowed to have only one child, most preferred to have a son. After 35 years, China realized that a major chunk of its workforce was heading into retirement, with too few people entering the labour market. Hence in 2015 couples were allowed to have up to two children. But that failed to raise the numbers to sustain the population and create the desired workforce. Recently, in March 2021, China allowed couples to have three children, but even that is unlikely to boost the workforce. There is a lesson in this for all countries, including India. A child is God’s gift, not man’s creation.
