China's fertility rates were already decreasing in the 1970s, and by 1980, the Chinese government formally instituted the controversial one-child policy, legally restricting families from having more than one baby. This resulted in low fertility rates and a large ageing population. In 2015, China ended the one-child policy and began allowing married couples to have two children. It expanded the allowance again in 2021, permitting up to three kids.
