For many years, China’s rapidly growing population was on the uprise, predicted to surpass 1 billion people, during the early 1980’s. When Mao Zedong took control of China after a long-lasting civil war in 1949, China was a very poor country, with population growth at its highest. After facing extreme shortages of food and resources for many years, China’s government implemented the one-child policy around 1979, in order to manage China’s ever-growing population. Under the one-child policy, couples of the Han Chinese ethnic group, approximately 90% of the population, were limited to only having 1 child with exceptions. Although dissipating around 2015 becoming the two-child policy, many people argue if it is a good idea for the Chinese government …show more content…
Stated in Document D, “With no brothers to compete for their parents’ resources, these teens have been socialized to value educational and career success.” Provided with the necessary resources and education, singleton daughters are able to extend into the working force, and are less likely to raise a family at an early age. This evidence supports the claim that the one-child policy was a good policy because without the policy, China’s resources would continue to run out and deplete over time. In addition, being a singleton daughter allows women to be educated, leading to more skilled workers in the workforce, and an overall faster growing …show more content…
As stated in Document C, “the policy is increasingly cited as an environmental blessing.” After the one-child policy was enacted, “the population controls have kept sulfur dioxide emissions down by 17.6%.” Sulfur dioxide is a major cause of asthma and bronchial infection and is a big contributor to China’s poor air quality. Lessening the sulfur dioxide levels helps promote a finer environment. Furthermore, population control has decreased the pressure on resources such as water and improved its overall quality. According to Document C, population controls have [reduced] water pollution by 30.8%. Cleaner water leads to safer and eco-friendlier environments, preventing the spread of waterborne diseases. This evidence supports the claim that the one-child policy was a good policy because cleaner water and less toxic sulfur dioxide levels in the atmosphere lead to a better environment. This creates a higher quality environment for people to live in and prevents the spread of disease and sickness. A final reason that the one-child policy was a good idea is because it benefitted social standards of people in China. In Document F, A. J. Song, an only child, stated how he “probably would not be living in Beijing if he had to share his parents’
Was China's one-Child policy a good idea? China's one child policy was introduced in 1980 with the fear of reaching the 1 billion population mark.China's one child policy was a great idea because it resolved China's population issue. The three main positive things that came from the one-child policy is population control, more respect for females and the environmental benefits.
Document F examines the lives of 2 children effected by the OCP. They both felt it helped them in the long run, but all of the attention and pressure to do well was on them. This leads to the creation of the “Little Emperors.” This can lead to a poor ability of cooperation in the next generation. The amount of pressure on a single-child to do well can also lead to an increase of depression and suicide among the new generation, which is not the correct way to decrease population. Document B dives into the issue of fertility rates before and after the OCP takes effect. A year before the Policy takes effect China’s fertility rate is 2.7; in 2008 it is 1.7. This change is unnatural and extremely savage. Social issues are only the tip of the iceberg; the One Child Policy also caused a gender gap beyond
My parents told me that they had a good life back at China, where they grew up, my father told me that they had a pretty nice life going on back there. Why they came here is beyond my comprehension, my father told me that they had a pretty good income back there, and life was good. Why they came here stumped me and make me thought why and so I asked, they gave me vague answers, but one of the reasons was because my parents were having their first child, which was my big sister. At China, there is this policy, the one child policy, only one child, it’s because China is overpopulated. Furthermore that boys were more favored than girls were. If they were to have an only my sister, I wouldn’t be born today nor my little brother. I later discovered that a good reason why to come here, for opportunity.
One of the more extreme measures taken in an attempt to control population has been China's one-child policy. Population advocate Garet Hardin suggests the rest of the world adopt similar policies. This paper is to show a country's government acting on theories that Hardin is popular for and the ethical and environmental effects that it had on people and the land. Hardin fails to see the ethical problems laid out by governments that suppress peoples thoughts and beliefs.
Therefore the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council’s Resolution Concerning the Strengthening of Birth Control proclaimed the one child policy in 1980. This policy said “the state advocates the one couple has only one child except for special cases, with approval for second birth” (Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, 1980). The goals of the policy were to have zero growth in the country and maintain the population at 1.2 billion by 2000. China offered financial and marital incentives to couples with a child and suspended them if the couple had a second child. Despite being defined as a voluntary program, the policy was enforced through administrative controls (White 2006). Be...
It is clear that China’s one child policy has affected Chinese society in multiple ways. The policy has resulted in corruption in the Chinese government, an abuse of women’s rights, female feticide, and an imbalance in the gender ratio, and potential problems with China’s elderly and younger populations. The Chinese government decided to implement a one child policy in order to counter the effects of rapid population growth. The question to ask is if the benefits of population control really do outweigh the problems the policy has created in Chinese society. It will be interesting to see if the policy continues to affect Chinese culture in the future, and how the changes that have been recently made play out.
But why did the one-child policy work in cities and not in rural areas? The problem in China is the desire for having a male descendant. Every Chinese family wants to have one boy to continue their family name. In rural families the desire for sons is even higher because boys have more workforce than girls, and rural families needed the workforce for maintaining their farms. Because of the urge to have a son, many baby girls were killed or given to orphanages after they were born. In the mid 80s infanticide of girls was so high that the government loosened its one-child policy a little bit for rural families. According to the new policy, rural famili...
By 1980, although the birthrate in China has fallen to below 3 children per family, it was believed by a new regime of Chinese leaders which included Deng Xiao Ping, that forced and restricted population growth would lead to greater economic prosperity. This coercive policy influenced the family of the Chinese citize...
China’s communist party created this policy in 1979 and has prevented over 400 million births with the use of forced abortions and sterilizations like Uzbekistan. In January of 2016, this policy has been changed into a two-child policy due to a realization that there can be an economic consequence to the failing birth-rate. Also, due to the fact that couples can only have one child, the future of China’s population can be a burden. Researchers stated, “The graying population will burden health care and social services, and the world’s second-largest economy will struggle to maintain its growth (Jiang, Steven)”. With the lack of production for more newborns, the population will gradually have a majority of elderly people within their society. The new population policy made add an increase in population, but it still puts a limit on the population. If couples had this policy lifted, it can make the overpopulation problem occur again. Therefore, this transition from one child to two children helps balance out under-population and overpopulation in
Feng Wang and Cai Yong stated that the fertility rate was already declining and the policy wasn’t necessary for the Chinese people, especially because of the enormous costs. The fertility rate, which is the number of children the average woman has in her lifetime, in China started at 2.7 in 1979 and decreased to 1.7 in 2008. The article “China’s One Child Policy at 30” argued that the policy did not need to be introduced in China because the rates were already lower than Brazil at 4.2 and Thailand at 3.6.
During the first half of 50’s government did not limit the population growth but did the exact opposite and actually encourage families to have more children. This was due to the Mao Zedong’s or Chairman Mao’s believe that more population would mean more economic development, more labor and more growth, however, late 1950’s changed that and that is when China began implementing first population control measures. As population reached 600 million Mao expressed his wish for population to remain in this level. Government soon realized that in order to keep population at this level, long term population control would have to be implemented. First they began by simply distributing various forms of contraceptives among general population. As famine of 1959-1961 struck the country it set the policy aside but as soon as country began to demonstrate signs of recovery the family planning campaign resumed where it left with distribution of contraceptives. By the late 1970s, China had experienced success in decreasing fertility rates by increasing the use of birth control under the slogan "Late, Long and Few". As a result China's population growth dropped by half between 1970 and 1976. Nonetheless, it soon leveled off, making government and officials seek more drastic measures and on September 25, 1980 an open letter by the Chinese Communist Party established One-Child Policy (OCP) also called Family Planning Policy (FPP). Nevertheless the OCP name is misleading since the policy allows for exceptions. For instance rural families with first child being disabled or being girl are allowed to have another child. Also, couples where both bride and groom are single children are allowed to have two ...
Li, J., & Cooney, R, S. (1993). Son preference and one child policy in china:
China originally created this policy to control the nation's population with hopes to stop wide-spread poverty. The people alone could not solve the problem, so the government decided to intervene, creating the One Child Policy. The law was established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 to limit China's population growth, and to conserve resources. The One Child Policy was designed to be temporary; however, it still continues to this day. The policy limits couples to have one child only. Consequences such as: fines, pressures to abort a pregnancy, and even forced sterilization accompanied second or subsequent pregnancies (Rosenberg). The policy was initially more like a voluntary agreement; where families who decided to have only one child would get full benefits for that child. Couples with two kids would get the same benefits as ones with one child if it was authorized by the government. However, couples who decided to have a third child would suffer penalties. The couples who had more than two children had to unde...
The “One Child Policy” should be abolished because it violates human rights and creates other problems for China. This policy has positive and negative effects but the negatives outweigh the positives. Overall, the “One Child Policy” has created many conflicts for china’s present and future. This law needs to be repealed before China is ruined in several aspects. In conclusion, the “One Child Policy” has caused many helpful and awful things to occur in China.
Rosenberg, M. (2010, 11 17). China's one child policy. Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from About.com: