Why does family planning contribute to economic growth

First, the "two kinds of production" theory and its relationship

Our country is in the primary stage of socialism. The basic feature of this stage is underdeveloped productivity, and the main contradiction is the contradiction between the people's growing material and cultural needs and backward social production. This contradiction determines that the fundamental task of socialism is to develop social productive forces, including both the production of material materials and the production of human beings themselves. They are unified in the practice centered on economic construction and run through the whole process of building Socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is one-sided to regard the development of social productive forces and economic construction as the production of material materials, and it is only to look at people and not things. Man is the most important social productive force. In the process of developing social productive forces, we should not only attach importance to the production of material materials, but also consider the reasonable production of human beings, so as to adapt and coordinate with each other. Without a correct understanding of this, the coordinated development of economy and society will be affected if the relationship between the two cannot be handled well. Therefore, in practical work, we must pay equal attention to production, at the same time strive to develop the economy, increase material wealth, rationally develop population production, control population growth and improve population quality.

Second, the relationship between economic development and population change and their interaction

Marxism holds that economic development plays a decisive role in population change, and different social production modes have different laws of population growth. As Marx pointed out, "every special historical mode of production acts on the law of population in a special historical way." Population changes react to economic development, and play a role in promoting or delaying economic development. When the population quantity, quality and structure meet the requirements of social and economic development, it will play a role in promoting economic development, otherwise, it will play a role in delaying economic development and even causing social and economic stagnation and destruction.

The decisive role of economic development in population change is manifested in three aspects. First of all, economic development determines the natural change of population. Generally speaking, the higher the level of economic development, the lower the fertility level, and the lower the birth rate and mortality rate. Second, economic development determines population migration. In modern society, the modernization of agricultural production and the rapid development of the secondary and tertiary industries have brought about great changes in the economic structure, which has led people to move from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector, from rural areas to cities, and from one region to another in order to seek living space and development opportunities. Third, economic development determines the population structure. Including population stratum structure, education structure and occupation structure.

From a macro perspective, economic development mainly affects population changes in the following ways. First, economic development has changed the production conditions and modes from traditional to modern, and the demand for labor has changed from quantity to quality. Second, economic development has promoted the improvement of living conditions and living standards, strengthened people's demand for their own development and enjoyment, and the status of childbearing in social and economic life has gradually weakened. Third, economic development provides material basis and conditions for urbanization. Urbanization embodies the all-round progress of society, including the improvement of the education level of the whole society, the improvement of medical and health conditions, the development and perfection of social security system, the establishment of modern birth concept and so on. Fourth, economic development has promoted scientific and technological progress, improved contraceptive technology and improved human reproductive conditions, thus promoting the improvement of population quality. Fifth, economic development helps to improve women's ability to participate in society, economy, politics and life, and promote the change of their reproductive concept and behavior. Sixth, economic development promotes the improvement of the social security system and welfare system, and weakens the traditional functions of the family such as providing for the aged, security and safety, which is conducive to the decline of the fertility rate.

From the microscopic point of view, economic development also has an impact on population changes: the family is a production unit, and the family's fertility decision depends on the influence mechanism of maximizing family income, which mainly includes the following aspects. First of all, economic development will increase the demand for high-quality labor and reduce the demand for low-quality labor. In order to cultivate high-quality labor force, families must increase the cost of cultivating children, thus producing quality substitution of the number of children. Second, parents have a high education level, especially women's education level, employment rate and income level, so the opportunity cost of raising children is high, and parents tend to reduce the time of raising children. Third, the improvement of social security system and welfare system reduces the income of raising children and helps to reduce the fertility rate. Fourth, the improvement of urbanization level makes people pay more attention to self-improvement and self-development. In addition, the expansion of the city scale and the rising cost of living increase the cost of raising children for families, which makes people tend to have fewer children.

The above analysis is of great practical significance to our family planning work. All macro-environmental changes and policy changes will finally play a role only if they are implemented in the micro-interest mechanism. At present, the decline of fertility rate in China is mainly achieved through strong administrative constraints, rather than the spontaneous decline of fertility rate based on economic development, which is particularly obvious in rural areas. There is still a certain distance between people's fertility will and fertility policy. This is because the current level of economic development in China has not yet established an interest mechanism conducive to family planning at the micro level. Therefore, the establishment of interest-oriented mechanism must be placed in a very important position, and promoting "three combinations" is one of the good ways.

Third, the national conditions of population are the basic national conditions in the primary stage of socialism in China.

Comrade Xiaoping once pointed out that the country is big, the foundation is weak, the population is large, and the cultivated land, especially farmers, is small. This situation is not easy to change. Our difficulty lies in the large population, and many problems are difficult to solve. Under the condition of underdeveloped production, eating, education and employment have become serious problems. We should vigorously strengthen family planning work, but even if the population does not increase in a few years, the problem of large population will still exist for some time. This is a characteristic that must be considered in China's modernization. When analyzing the basic national conditions in the primary stage of socialism, the report of the 15th National Congress pointed out that in the primary stage of socialism, the agricultural population accounts for a large proportion, the illiterate and semi-illiterate population accounts for a large proportion, and the poor population accounts for a large proportion. The national conditions of population are the most basic national conditions in the primary stage of socialism. The population of China is more than the total population of developed countries in the world 1 100 million. 7% of cultivated land should be used to feed 2 1% of human beings in the world. This is the population situation of China and the basic situation of China. When we analyze the basic national conditions of the primary stage of socialism, we must fully understand the importance of the national conditions of the population. The population problem should be a basic starting point for us to think, do things and make decisions.

Although China's current total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level and entered the ranks of countries with low fertility level, due to the large population base, the absolute population growth is still much higher than that of other countries, and the average annual net growth in the future will be about 65.438+million. It is predicted that due to the effect of population inertia, the total population of China will continue to expand until it reaches about1600 million in the middle of 2 1 century, which means that the population will increase by more than 400 million, which is based on strict control of population growth. In other words, China's economic and social development will face the problem of large population for a long time. This also determines that it is a long-term and arduous task for China to implement family planning and strictly control population growth.

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Fourth, the population problem is a strategic issue.

Comrade Xiaoping has always regarded the population issue as a strategic issue and investigated and dealt with it in the overall situation of national economic and social development. He pointed out: "China's population policy is a strategic policy, and strictly controlling population growth is a major strategic decision of China." China's strict control of population growth is based on our vital interests.

If China wants to develop, it will not only face the backwardness of economy, science and technology, education and culture, but also face the enormous pressure of overpopulation. Take grain as an example. 1984, China's per capita grain possession was 400 kg, reaching the world average. 1984 Although the grain output increased by 90 billion kilograms, the per capita grain possession was 392 kilograms, which was lower than 1984. In other words, it is not enough to increase food for the new population. This poses a very serious problem for us. If the population problem is not solved well, the economy will not develop and people's lives will be difficult to improve.

Comrade Xiaoping not only linked the population issue with the success or failure of socialist modernization, with the strategic objectives and general tasks of economic development, but also closely linked the population issue with the consolidation of the socialist system, social development and political stability. Comrade Xiaoping believes that only the socialist system can fundamentally solve the problem of poverty. He said that China's population of one billion is still in a backward state. If we take the capitalist road, a few people may get rich faster in some local areas, while a large number of people still can't get rid of poverty or even solve the problem of food and clothing. Only the socialist system can fundamentally solve the poverty problem.

In order to achieve the goal of reaching the level of moderately developed countries in the middle of the next century, Comrade Xiaoping pointed out that 80% of China's population lives in rural areas. China's social stability is unstable, and whether China's economy can develop depends, first of all, on whether rural areas can develop and whether farmers' lives can get better. It is very important whether this 80% population can quadruple. Agriculture is the foundation of economic development, social stability and national self-reliance. Farmers and rural issues are the fundamental problems in China. The difficulty of China's modernization lies in the countryside. Farmers' prosperity and rural revitalization are the starting point and the end result of coordinating urban and rural development. Internationally, the proportion of agricultural population is often regarded as a sign of the development degree of a country or region. In some developed countries, the agricultural population only accounts for about 10%, while in China, there are more than 900 million people in rural areas, accounting for about 80% of the total population. Because the production conditions, lifestyle and community environment in rural areas are difficult to change in a short time, the fertility rate of rural population is higher than that of urban population. Even if a stricter birth policy is adopted, the absolute growth trend of rural population will continue due to the influence of population inertia. The key to population control in China lies in the countryside, and the key and difficult point of family planning work also lies in the countryside. Deng Xiaoping said that the implementation of family planning can make China develop faster, so leaders at all levels are required to take family planning as a strategic task, do a good job, create public opinion, set an example, and strive to implement family planning. Comrade Deng Xiaoping's thought that farmers are the main population in China is of strategic significance. It not only analyzes the urban and rural structure and distribution of population in China, but also warns us that the focus of population control is in the countryside, which points out the fundamental starting point for us to understand and solve the social and economic problems in China. It can be said that we have found a way to solve the problem of rural population's survival and development, and also found a way to build Socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) The role of per capita level in measuring comprehensive national strength and social development

Per capita GNP is the main symbol to measure comprehensive national strength and realize the three-step strategic goal. Establishing population consciousness and per capita concept is an important viewpoint of Deng Xiaoping's population thought. The strategic goal of "three steps" is divided, and each step has the requirement of per capita level. Comrade Xiaoping put forward our goal: the first step is to double the per capita GNP to US$ 500 by the 1980s. The second step is to double the per capita GNP to US$ 1,000 by the end of this century. Achieving this goal means that we have entered a well-off society. Our goal, more importantly, the third step, is to quadruple in 30-50 years in the next century, and the per capita income will reach 4,000 US dollars, reaching the level of moderately developed countries. This is our ambition. According to Comrade Xiaoping's strategic goal, the first step was achieved two years ahead of schedule, and the problem of food and clothing was solved. Second, according to the current speed of economic development, it is promising to quadruple the per capita GNP by the year 2000, with the population ratio 1980 increasing by about 300 million.

It is an outstanding contribution of Deng Xiaoping's population thought to closely combine "per capita GNP" with the strategic goal of socialist modernization. To measure and evaluate a country's comprehensive national strength and people's living standards, we should not only look at its gross national product, but also look at its proportion of per capita gross national product. Only in this way can we scientifically and truly reflect the dynamic changes of comprehensive national strength and people's living standards (at present, "per capita gross national product" is usually used as the ranking standard of national wealth in the world).

In Comrade Xiaoping's speech, the concepts of per capita grain, per capita land and per capita GNP were mentioned in many places to teach us to establish the concept of per capita. He said: "We should always remember that our country is large, with a large population and a weak foundation. Only through long-term struggle can we catch up with the level of developed countries. For example, coal output, 1978, 599 million tons of commercial coal in the United States and 724 million tons of raw coal in the Soviet Union. Last year, our raw coal reached 630 million tons, which seems not too small, but it is much less according to the per capita possession. " As Comrade Xiaoping said, China's gross national product (GNP) and the output of many products rank first in the world in terms of total output, but it is far below the world standard in terms of per capita. China's GDP has reached US$ 544.6 billion from 1993, ranking seventh in the world, but its per capita GDP is at 125. 1996 steel output has reached 1000000 tons, ranking first in the world, but per capita is behind the world100; Coal output 1995,12.4 billion tons, ranking first in the world, but 75th per capita. The output of crude oil is 1.995,1.500 million tons, ranking fifth in the world, but per capita is behind 1.40. 1995 generates 928.08 billion kwh of electricity, ranking second in the world, but its per capita is behind 130: 1996 has a grain output of 490 billion kilograms, ranking 1 in the world, but ranking 80 th in the world per capita; The output of meat and eggs in 1995 was 52.6 million tons of meat and16.77 million tons of eggs respectively, ranking first in the world, but the average per capita was 75th and 55th respectively. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about the enhancement of comprehensive national strength and the improvement of people's lives only with the increase of the total amount and without the increase of per capita possession. For the level of economic development, it is easy to make wrong judgments and decisions if we only compare it from the total amount rather than the per capita possession. Only by establishing the concept of per capita can we deeply understand the difficulties brought by overpopulation and see the gap between China and developed countries.

Among many economic factors, the per capita income level not only best reflects the level of economic development, but also has a significant impact on the fertility rate. Research shows that at a certain stage of economic development, there is a trend that the higher the per capita income level, the lower the fertility rate, which is explained by both the vertical development process and the horizontal comparison between countries with different income levels.

Therefore, in order to improve the per capita output value, on the one hand, we must develop the economy, on the other hand, we must strictly control the population growth. Comrade Xiaoping put forward the concept of per capita very clearly, taking per capita GNP as the standard of economic development, thus organically combining material production with population production, and embodying the idea of paying equal attention to population and development. This dialectical thought profoundly reveals the internal relationship among population, comprehensive national strength and people's living standards, and plays an important role in raising the awareness of population and development of the whole party and people.