How governments have tried to control the population in a country?

Governments in many cases have tried to control the population of the country either by creating an anti-natalist policy or a pro-natalist policy. For example, the Chinesegovernmentcreated an anti-natalist policy in which they only allowed families to have one child. This policyproved to be successfulin the way that it helped to erase overpopulation problems. Before the policy was introduced the food sources, government resources, educational and housing needs, and land in China werebecoming scarce and fast.Since it’s beginning, it has prevented over 400 million births and helped to ease the overpopulation problem. Additionally, the problem of overcrowding wasn’t just a matter of space. Jobs became very sparse, as well as food and other resources necessary to live a comfortable and healthy life. Because of the huge growth in people, many were living in extreme poverty conditions. After the one-child policy took effect, the poverty rate slowly began to decline in the country. On the other hand, this policy brought many consequences to the country.The biggest issue with the One Child policy in China is the alarming rate at which children are being killed or abandoned.This has mostly affected girls since only one child can be had, the overwhelming majority want to have boys. Boys provide labor, money-making potential, and a namesake for the family. This hascaused a gender imbalance in China's population with the vast majority being boys.Furthermore, due to this policy, China is struggling to fill in the jobs with the current population that it has, which is why the government has started to implement a two-child policy.

Rewarding a pro-natalist policy France has been struggling to increase the population which is why it implemented a policy called "la Cotede la Famille" in which they providedfinancial aid to families to encourage them to have more children. Looking at France’s population, the code de la Famille shows a success. France's fertility rate has risen from 1.67 in 1992 to 1.98 today and, whilst this is still below the level of replacement(2.1), it indicates that the code de la Famille is raising the fertility rate as desired.However, the cost of this pro-natalist policy is stopping it from succeeding. Given France’s current budget deficit of 7.5%, its GDP and the current situation regarding the euro, the country could struggle to fund the pro-natalist policies in the near future, which could limit its success and ultimately result in the policy failing, worsening the issue of paying for the elderly’s social care.