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China's Family Planning Army

Lucy Ash visits a pilot project in Shaanxi Province. Former enforcers there are being trained up to offer advice and support to rural grandparents who are left rearing children wh

Now that China has ended its One Child policy, one group of state employees may be out of a job - the country's hated population police. Hundreds of thousands of officers used to hunt down families suspected of violating the country's draconian rules on child bearing. But with an eye on improving child welfare nationally, the state is hoping to redeploy many of them as child development specialists. Lucy Ash visits a pilot project in Shaanxi Province. Former enforcers there are being trained up to offer advice and support to rural grandparents who are left rearing children while parents migrate to jobs in the big cities. If successful, the scheme could be rolled out nationwide to redeploy an army of family planning workers and transform the life prospects of millions of rural children.

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 29 Dec 2016 22:30GMT

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Role Contributor
Presenter Lucy Ash

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