The one child policy, a part of the family planning policy, was a population control policy of China which was introduced between 1978 and 1980 and began to be formally phased out in 2015. The policy allowed many exceptions and ethnic minorities were exempt. In 2007, 36% of China's population was subject to a strict one-child restriction. An additional 53% were allowed to have a second child if the first child was a girl.