When it comes to government policies internationally, there are a variety of approaches taken by governments to attempt to control population growth. Today and even historically, China is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to setting control on its immense population. China is known for its old ‘One child policy’ that is no longer standing, but today they are doing what is called economic upgrading, and they do this by controlling migration in its biggest cities. In other words, China is carefully planning and calculating who can live where in hopes of boosting economic growth and prosperity. The manipulation of city population has been comfortable over time, with the percentage of long-time city citizens growing from 20.9% of the whole population in 1982 -- 54.8% in 2014. (Y. SHEN AND B. LI 446). This wasn’t necessarily due to China’s one-child policy, but because more migrants have moved to the cities. This is becoming problematic because Chinese public services and shops do not like to serve the migrant population, and there are too many people for everyone to receive the same level of service. 

Incentives/Disincentives

In many countries, governments often will encourage population control through incentives and disincentives. For example, those in Assam, a northern state in India, with more than two children will be denied government housing as well as any government jobs. Although there are many penalties that may be imposed depending on the country, some nations are proposing incentives in an effort to grow their population. South Korea has the lowest birth rate of any nation in the world at only 1.2.  (The Economic Times). The highest is Niger at 7.6. The lowest birth rate nation, South Korea, announced in 2010 that it would turn off the lights in its offices at 7.30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month so that employees could leave for home early. Other incentives, such as childcare facilities, were also announced at the time. It is interesting to note how governments will implement a variety of ways to solve the issue. Another example is Turkey. (The Economic Times). Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, urged women to have at least three children in 2016. He introduced numerous incentives for couples in 2015, such as gold coins for first-time mothers and the option for mothers to take paid part-time jobs. When thinking about these massive incentive projects, it is no surprise that they must be extremely expensive. A third example is one with a heavy price tag. In 2015, Japan's fertility rate increased slightly to 1.46, a record high for more than 20 years. (The population should remain stable at a rate of 2.1). (The Economic Times). While two years of economic expansion may have helped, many also credit the rise to benefits provided by the local government. One of Tokyo's wards pays its residents $1,700 once for each birth, while another pays $940 for the first child and ten times that amount for the fourth. Governments end up spending BILLIONS on these programs just to spark some population growth in their countries. (The Economic Times).