...The one-child policy is a population control policy that was introduced in 1979 to relive social, economic, and environmental problems in China. At the time the growth rate of China’s population was very high and the main purpose of the policy was to limit the large family units in the country to one child each. After implementing the policy, the government hoped to see reduction in the growth rate of its enormous population. Sometimes couples can have a second child only if their first was a girl or had disabilities. As of today, China’s government believes that their one-child policy will result in a wealthier, healthier and happier life for the people of China. After viewing the article, “Plight of The Little Emperors” and documentary, “China’s lost girls” I think the one-child policy implemented in China is not the right way to control over population. I believe that China’s one-child policy has been unsuccessful because it has caused health issues and gender imbalance. The first reason why I think the one-child policy has been unsuccessful is because it has caused health issues. Traditionally in the Chinese culture, the children take care of their parents when they are older. Since the one-child policy only allows them to have one child, they are willing to do almost anything so that child will be successful and support them in old age. By sacrificing themselves, these parents may face health issues. In the article “Plight of The Little Emperors” one mother...
Words: 1301 - Pages: 6
...----------------------------------- Aug 31, 2005 One Child Policy in China ----------------------------------- Why Government Policy Causes Population Change in China Policy may Cause Population Change. China’s One Child Policy is a very controversial one. It involves only one child per married couple. This has led to high abortion figures (sometimes forced or selective), forced sterilisation and even infanticide. However China had no choice but to adopt such a harsh policy, China’s population in the 1970s was 900 million and rising. China didn’t have enough resources to support this growing population, and had strong regional variations. The government realised something had to change and in the early 1970s strongly driven family planning methods were adopted and in 1979 the one child policy was introduced. China is a huge country (9,600,000 squared kilometres) and has a large number of resources however there is an extreme imbalance between population size and resources available. 1,192 million people live in China that’s 21.4% of the world’s population. This is a lot of people to feed, clothe and house. The population has put a huge amount of tension on the countries limited resources. 25% of China’s land is infertile or desert so no crops can be grown on this land and not many will want to live on it because they wouldn’t be able to support themselves due to the poor soils. China can be split down the middle from the north east to the south, dividing...
Words: 670 - Pages: 3
...One Child Policy: Right or Wrong The world today consists of almost 6.9 billion people. China itself, serves host to more than 1.2 billion people. This astronomical figure is more than 17% of the enite word population. For centuries China has stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. On the other hand, over the last decade, it has also plummeted economically. A big factor for this massive downfall is its overpopulation within the country. Due to this exponential increase in population, the Chinese government has installed a “one-child policy”. The one-child policy solved the overpopulation issue in China, but it also introduced a variety of other problems to the country. In the early 1900's, China's population was about 420 million. In the past century years, it had grown to 1.2 billion, an increase of almost 800 million people in a 100 years. (Hays) Having this many people in one area means that there is a lot of people to feed, clothe, and house. The population has put a large amount of tension on its limited resources. A quarter of China’s land is either desert, or infertile land, therefore no crops can be grown on the land. Also, it means that people won't want to live on it because they wouldn’t be able to support themselves due to the poor soil. This issue leads to tremendous amounts of population density in the cities. The Chinese government realized that something had to be put in place, otherwise they would never...
Words: 1667 - Pages: 7
...The one-child policy is the one-child limitation in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China. The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy. It officially restricts married, urban couples to having only one child, while allowing exemptions for several cases, including rural couples, ethnic minorities, and parents without any siblings themselves. A spokesperson of the Committee on the One-Child Policy has said that approximately 35.9% of China's population is currently subject to the one-child restriction. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are completely exempt from the policy. Also exempt from this law are foreigners living in China. This policy was introduced in 1978 and initially applied to first-born children in the year of 1979. It was created by the Chinese government to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China, and authorities claim that the policy has prevented between 250 and 300 million births from its implementation until 2000, The policy is controversial both within and outside China because of the manner in which the policy has been implemented, and because of concerns about negative social consequences. The policy has been implicated in an increase in forced abortions, of female births, and has been suggested as a possible cause behind China's gender imbalance. Nonetheless, a 2008 survey undertaken by the Pew Research Center reported that 76% of the...
Words: 3941 - Pages: 16
...One Child Policy: The Gender Epidemic During the 1970’s under Mao Tse-tung’s ruling, China’s population was increasing toward one billion people. When he was the ruler, Mao allowed the people to have as much babies as they wanted because to him, “of all the things in the world, people are the most precious.”(Ho) Soon, the population kept rising and the government came to a conclusion that popution control is nesscesary because they fear that there won’t be enough food or resources to support the people. After Mao passed away the next leader, Deng Xioping established the One Child Policy in 1980 to limit the population growth in China. The policy strictly allow couples in China to have only one child with a few exceptions in some areas. If couples disobey the law and have a second child, they would have to pay heavy fines. They can also lose their jobs and create a bad name for their family. In the government’s view when the policy was being introduced, fewer births ment fewer mouths to feed which ment that there is a better chance at prosperity for the people. (Evans 102) According to Paul Wiseman from USA Today, the goal of the policy was to keep the Chinese population below 1.2 billion people through 2000. As it turned out, the policy has failed because the population today is 1.3 billion. It did however lower birthrates due to birth control, abortions, and early deaths of infants. Throughout the years, China began to have an imbalanced gender ratio. There is a significant...
Words: 2846 - Pages: 12
...Altynay Sydykova ID#20100569 Topic: China one child policy Introduction Thesis statement: One child policy in China lead to a gender imbalance and rapidly aging society could present significant problems, however we can not deny the fact that the world's population which is already too high would be phenomenal at this point. Thesis statement: One child policy had crashing effects on the Chinese society. However we can’t argue with the fact that the number of population will increase till impossibility without restriction of law, which have further influence to the country conditions. I. Main idea (topic sentence 1). The significant problem that appeared because of the wrong compulsion of the one-child-policy is the gender imbalance. Supporting idea A. Asian countries, including China has long traditions of son preference. B. Because of the law restriction and traditional values sex- selective abortion and female infanticide is encouraged. II. Ad interim when a culture does not have enough young generation to replace the aging members they will sooner or later run out of young workers. Supporting idea A. According to the researches by 2050, there could be two working people for every old person, compared with 13 to one now. B. Necessity of young people to strength to maintain their industries. III. Keeps of growing population destroy their economy and future in general. A. Without restriction...
Words: 259 - Pages: 2
...One Child Policy The One Child Policy has been a law in China since 1979. Deng Xiaoping established it because the Chinese population had tripled since 1900. The Chinese government felt that this policy would improve social, economic, and environmental issues. The One Child Policy restricts the number of children urban married couples can have to one and the exceptions to the policy are rural couples and ethnic minorities. Rural area couples are an exception to the policy if the first born is a girl or has a physical disability, mental illness, or mental retardation. The institution of the one child policy has drastically influenced china on a political, social, and economic level. The Chinese government estimated that it has three to four hundred million less people because of the policy and that it has prevented overpopulation, epidemics, slums, and strain on the ecosystem, but there are still controversial issues involving the one child policy. Kidnapping, female infanticide, sex selective abortion, and unequal boy girl ratio are all results of the one child policy. In order for the one child policy to continue these controversial issues need to be resolved or else it could have a negative impact on the population. These issues are results of a Chinese tradition that in order for the family name to carry on you need a son and boys are just considered to be better then girls especially in rural areas because boys can do better farm work. This tradition is not a law...
Words: 1160 - Pages: 5
...1. What is the ‘One-Child Policy’? China’s Demographic Transition Model China’s Demographic Transition Model The Chinese ‘One-Child Policy’ was introduced in 1978 by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. His aim was to limit communist China's population growth by limiting couples t6o only one child. Although designated a "temporary measure," it still continues to be in use a 25 years after it was established. In this time the rule has been estimated to have reduced population growth in the country of over 1.3 billion by as much as 300 million people in the first twenty years. During Mao Zedong’s leadership of China infant mortality declined from 227 births in 1949 to 53 in 1981 per 1000 live births, and life expectancy dramatically increased from around 35 in 1949 to 66 years in 1976. The policy was introduced because up until the 1960s, the government encouraged families to have as many children as possible this is due to president Mao Zedong’s belief that population growth empowered the country. He prevented the rise of family planning programs thus increasing birth rates. The population grew from around 540 million in 1949 to 940 million in 1976. Several years later Song Jian, one of china’s top officials read the books ‘The Limits of Growth’ and ‘A Blue Print For Survival’, he then went onto calculate the correct population for China to be 700 million, 240million less than the population at the time. The One-Child policy was introduced to reduce China’s population to...
Words: 998 - Pages: 4
...fast. So the governor of China instituted the One-Child policy to restrict the growing population. This policy was introduced in 1979 and initially applied to first-born children in the year of 1979. After more than 30 years carry out, the main goal of this policy was achieved. Under the influence, the growth rate declines apparently. In the 1970s, China’s growth rate was 3 percent; in the mid-1980’s, it was 1.2%; and today, China’s growth rate is 0.7 %”( Jackson & Eleen, 2001). On the other hand, this policy also causes several adverse consequences, including high rate of old-age, increased abortion rate, unexpected change of sex ration. There is no doubt this policy’s affection which is obvious. Even though the Chinese government within the pressure of human rights improvement has relaxed the policy and makes this policy more humanistic but some of people still consider the one child policy impact China in a more negative way. Therefore, I will introduce how does one child policy impact towards Chinese society in the below. On the current situation, even the Chinese government makes lots of beneficial changes, this policy isn’t prefect yet. The opposite voice never stops. Some people on the Internet even states that this policy is inhumane and absurd, due to this policy restrict the human right. On the other hand, many people on the Internet refer that this policy is necessary and understandable. They consider one child policy is an effective...
Words: 1807 - Pages: 8
...China's population The most surprising demographic crisis A new census raises questions about the future of China’s one-child policy May 5th 2011 | BEIJING | The Economist * * DOES China have enough people? The question might seem absurd. The country has long been famous both for having the world’s largest population and for having taken draconian measures to restrain its growth. Though many people, Chinese and outsiders alike, have looked aghast at the brutal and coercive excesses of the one-child policy, there has also often been a grudging acknowledgment that China needed to do something to keep its vast numbers in check. But new census figures bolster claims made in the past few years that China is suffering from a demographic problem of a different sort: too low a birth rate. The latest numbers, released on April 28th and based on the nationwide census conducted last year, show a total population for mainland China of 1.34 billion. They also reveal a steep decline in the average annual population growth rate, down to 0.57% in 2000-10, half the rate of 1.07% in the previous decade. The data imply that the total fertility rate, which is the number of children a woman of child-bearing age can expect to have, on average, during her lifetime, may now be just 1.4, far below the “replacement rate” of 2.1, which eventually leads to the population stabilising. Slower growth is matched by a dramatic ageing of the population. People above the age of 60 now represent...
Words: 1170 - Pages: 5
...babies who were born this year came from Asia alone. This is an issue because over population can lead to hasty consumption of resources. China who has one of the largest population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, has taken a stance against over population. By introducing China’s One-Child Policy (Family Planning Policy) in 1979, China hopes to decrease its country’s annual population growth. China has implemented the policy by many different ways; propaganda, taxation, and multiple forms of birth control. Though China’s intentions are to give its citizens better living conditions by enforcing its policy, many controversial topics about human rights have risen about the affects of the One-Child Policy. Also other issues that China has to deal with are the major demographic events that will occur. For example the significant and growing gender imbalance. With many negative side effects with China’s One-Child Policy, one thing is certain, China’s policy is working. According to an article from the Joint Force Quarterly called “Graying Panda Shrinking Dragon” written by Matt Isler, China’s One-Child Policy has successfully slowed its population growth and has curtailed over 250 million births sense its inception (pg 2). China’s One-Child Policy has been doing its purpose but at the cost of its own citizens’ human rights. One of China’s largest concerns today is the problem of over population. China believes that for its nation to be prosperous and the people to be happy...
Words: 3114 - Pages: 13
...The one child policy was established in China in 1979 because the population was growing extremely fast. The one child policy is a law that prevents families from having more than one child. It only applies to the Han Chinese ethnic group, which makes up 90% of the Chinese population. Sibling-less parents are allowed to have two children. Some Chinese people are in favor of the one child policy (OCP) because their lives were made easier. Other people felt it was not fair to have their rights taken away. I think that the OCP was not a good idea because there’s not enough information to support that it was a good idea. The intention of the OCP was to lower the fertility rate in China and prevent overpopulation. The OCP did lower the fertility rate but caused other problems. For example, in Document B it says that generations after the law was passed, there wouldn't be enough young people to care for the older. The generations will be too apart and then the elderly will not have enough people to replace them or care for them. Other countries that never have had the OCP had their fertility rate lower. In 1970 women used to have around 5.8 average kids, and it lowered to 2.7 kids on average in 1979. The fertility rate lowered before the OCP was made. Even without the OCP China’s population would have probably gone down anyways. The OCP brought a negative social impact on China. As stated in Document E people had to pay fines of $1000 if they had an extra child, and if they...
Words: 739 - Pages: 3
...The one-child policy is the China’s population control policy introduced in 1979, which allows all families to have only one child. This policy heavily relies on the Malthus’ policy recommendation originated from the Malthusian model discussed in the lecture, which argues that the rate of population growth would always outweigh the income growth. By implementing the policy, one of China’s expectations would be an increase in income per capita by lowering the population growth rate. While there are ongoing debates on whether the population growth is beneficial or problematic to a country, China’s one-child policy reveals both positive and negative effects on a country’s economic status. Under the one-child policy, Chinese families become easier to afford their basic needs which allow them to invest on their children and to increase their savings. The introduction of one-child policy alleviates the issues associated with the large families who suffer from poverty due to the high number of children to feed; as a result, more Chinese families can afford to...
Words: 522 - Pages: 3
...slowdown in manufacturing in China and it’s time for China to reform its manufacturing model to resist this slowdown. Several factors caused this slowdown. First, China’s biggest advantage in the export sector, the cheap, seemingly unlimited supply of labor is gradually diminishing. The number of available workers is decreasing and the wages for these workers are increasing every year. Labor costs have begun to rise in China. The time for unlimited cheap labor is limited. As Michelle Loyalka (2012) points out in her article Chinese Labor, Cheap No More; most big cities are lacking an adequate work forces. The sharp falloff in the amount of labor is mainly due to the One-Child Policy. China started its One-Child Policy in 1978 and has prevented 300 million births from its implementation to 2000. This also means the One-Child Policy has reduced 300 million potential workers. Since the government today is still persistent on this policy, the sheer number of workers will continuously decrease. So, the advantage of having a large amount of available workers is disappearing, and won’t quickly return. Besides the shortage in the number of available workers, workers’ wages increase every year, sometimes even twice a year. Loyalka (2012) finds out that today’s migrant workers are aware of the basic welfare for workers. They are choosy compared to the previous generation and can not endure hardship as their...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...China’s issue with overpopulation has been a difficult problem to solve for a long time. The Chinese population is one fifth of the world’s population, and China has the biggest land in Asia. Population’s increasing role in consumption can have serious environmental affects on one nation. Moreover, as people consume more, if the population increases more and more, it can cause exhaustion of resources, pollution by industries, decrease the supply of food and hurt the environment. China was overpopulated sharply before the Chinese government provided the family planning policy of "one child per family". Because of overpopulation, the Chinese government needed to provide the family planning policy of "one child per family." However, the policy caused some side effects on the population. The results are imbalance between developed and undeveloped areas, unbalance of male and female, preference of bearing only male children and increasing of selective-sex abortions. Although China has succeeded with its “one child” policy in the eastern area, the western area of China which is undeveloped still has couples who have two or even more than three children. The eastern area’s residents who live in big cities adhere easily to “one child per a family” policy, but western area’s residents who live in rural area need more than one child. If they have only one child, they cannot be productive in their agriculture; Also the preference of bearing only male children caused an unbalance of male...
Words: 1456 - Pages: 6
