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. China's one child policy took some time to show was it was meant to do but when it did it helped china a lot. In document A it gives us a chart of china's expected population, and in this chart China was expected reach its highest population in 2030 with a population of 1390 million people, then it would decrease down to 900 million in 2100. In document C it states “Henan last year became the first province in china to register its 100 millionth resident” so we can tell already tell that Henan is already very popular and it has more problems as the document states more "Hean is one of the most environmentally stressed areas of China with a quarter of the water and a fifth of the land per capita compared to the already low …show more content…
With overpopulation you get environment problems like water pollution and sulfur dioxide emissions. According to Liu in document C “the population controls have kept sulfur dioxide emissions down by 17.6% and [reduced] water pollution by 30.8%. Without [the one-child policy], he says, the average person in Henan would a less land and a quarter less forest.” With the population control there is less water contamination which means less people will become sick from polluted water. Also in document C it states “Over 30 years of effort, we have put in place a systematic procedure for controlling the population. That has eased the impact on the environment.” This quote shows when the one-child policy was put in place the water pollution and sulfur dioxide went down which helped the environment
Imagine having to be told by the government that you were only allowed to have one child because of your ethnicity and then being forced to pay for an additional child if it happened. China fell under Communist control in 1949 with Mao Zedong leading the country. China had just gotten out of a bad war so Chairman Mao believed that the Chinese people should have as many babies as they could; he called this plan the Great Leap Forward. Soon, China was captured in a famine that killed nearly 30 million people, so Mao told the Chinese people to have smaller families. Mao Zedong created the One-Child Policy (OCP) to help prevent large families. It seemed a great idea at the time, but would soon lead to severe social issues, gender issues, and ironically, population issues.
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.
In the 1950s the People’s Republic of China first implemented the beginnings of the one child policy. It made significant changes to the population and the nation’s growth rate decreased. Professor Yinchu Ma (1957) initiated the policy with his book New Population Theory. His book responded to the huge increase in population growth occurring in China (Singer 1998). Under the Mao republic, leaders saw the population development as a danger to the nation’s economy (White 1994). The political party promoted childbirth in the 1950s and 1960s according to the slogan “one is a good few, two is just enough, and three is over” (White 1994). However these efforts were not successful and there were 250 million additional people in the 1970s. More steps were taken to encourage population control. These steps included focusing on contraceptive and abortion services in the countryside and encouraging later marriages. In 1982 the Chinese population was over one billion and the growth rate made China’s modernization goals more difficult.
After the People’s Republic of China was established several factors such as improved sanitation and medicine led to a rapid population increase. Initially, the population growth was considered to be an economic boom [2] because before it occurred the county had faced a century of wars and epidemics. However, by 1962, China started to promote the use of birth control. Later, in 1979 China was faced with a population that was growing out of control[3], and the government decided that in order to combat the extreme population that they needed to take action. Thus, the Chinese government decided to implement a one child policy.
The one-child policy in China forces families to only have one child by using harsh treatments such as undocumented children, forced abortions, and fines. The policy affects the elderly, economy, education levels, personality of children and the value of girls in China. Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese leader, created the one-child policy in 1979 in order to limit population growth of the Han Chinese. The policy takes away couples’ rights to have more than one child. Why does the government have to issue such harsh punishments to the breakers of the policy?
But why had China to control its population? From 1949 on, Mao Zedong feared war with the United States or the Soviet Union. “China’s millions [of people] were the country’s primary weapon against technologically superior enemies.” The Chinese population grew explosively, with a growth rate of more than 2% per year until 1970. Deng Xiaoping saw the problem in the population explosion and invented the one-child family in 1979. 1981 the one-child policy was introduced nationwide. This policy was effective in the cities, but in the rural areas the goal of minimizing population growth was unsuccessful.
China’s One-Child Policy was introduced 35 years ago on September 25, 1979, by the Chinese Communist Party. Deng Xiao Ping wrote in an open letter to limit the population growth in china. This policy constrains every couple in China to have only one child. Couples with a supernumerary child without a permit will be fined thousands of dollars or be forced into abortion.
What’s the point of China’s one-child policy anyway? After the 20 year civil war ended in 1949, the great power of Mao Zedong and his Communist Party became the leaders of China. His intention was to take control of the poor, weakened country and have it prosper. One of his first steps in doing this was raising the population, and encouraged couples of China to have many, many children. The objective was to make fine future workers and raise the economy, however, the result was the overpopulation of China. As shown by the Population Division of the Department of Economics and Social Affairs (PDDESA), in the span of 30 years, there was more than 900 million in population (Doc A). Because of the great number of people, other problems occurred such as severe pollution and the overall quality of life. These conditions were pressured so much that China’s leader expeditiously acted. Under the control of new Communist leaders, they enforced a program called the one-child policy in 1980. This policy, the first of its kind, limited the Han Chinese (90% of the population) to only birth one child couple. Such drastic measures were taken to solve China’s
If you were a government official, and your country’s population growth was on the verge of causing major complications, what would you do? Government officials in China created a policy (that was introduced in 1980) called the One Child Policy. This is a policy created to control population growth by only allowing people of Han Chinese descent to have one child. However, minority ethnic groups could have two or three children. The One Child Policy that was put into place was a good idea because it prevented a strain on dwindling resources, benefited the environment, and advanced education while challenging gender norms.
In our world, millions of babies are being born everyday. However, in China, the number of babies being born is too much for their country. So the government decided to make a policy called the one-child policy. This policy limited families in China to only having one kid. Was the one child policy a good or bad idea? After researching the topic, I discovered that it was a bad idea because of multiple reasons. These reasons were because children would be too lonely with siblings, it cost a lot of money that wasn’t needed, and because there are less children for jobs.
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 ...
In order to solve the overpopulation issue, the government should pay great attention to it. Some policies, such as “ One China policy”, have already been made in China. They have already paid off. For instance, in 1994, the natural growth rate was 11.21, but in 1999 it was only 8.77 (SFPCC statistics). However, China still has a long way to go in this aspect, for the overpopulation is still serious now, just like what has been mentioned in the previous paragraphs.
Over population has been a global issue for decades. Medical advances have made it possible for people to live longer and have multiple births, which are just some of the factors contributing to this social problem. Many countries have attempted to battle this issue, but none as intensely as China. China allows the government to have full control over family planning to help reduce the population. In 1979 China created a policy called the "One Child Law" which limits couples to only one child. Although the Chinese government hopes to curb the population boom and benefit society, the One Child Policy has morally questionable results, negative impacts on Chinese society, which should be changed.
Established to curb a surging population, one-child only laws have been instituted as a measure of control. However, is this method of mending the overpopulation crisis worth sacrificing one’s human right to retain children? Furthermore, will these laws be a permanent solution to the burgeoning population, or is this concept merely acting as a band-aid, attempting to cover up this situation when the planet is in need of a much more dire approach? Although there are credible arguments to support each side of the debate, it is clearly inappropriate for the government to enact one-child legislation in order to control the population. China, boasting the world’s highest population, introduced one-child only laws in 1979.
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.