Background History
China’s population growth began to increase during the Ming Dynasty, and increased dramatically throughout Qing. The population grew around 65million in the late 14th century to more than 400 million in 1949 (Spengler 1962: 112). Since the People Republic of China was founded, Mao had seen the population growth as favorable to industrialization, and he believed that population growth empowered the country (Potts 2006). In the 1950s, the government began to realize that the food supply would soon become insufficient for the rapidly growing population, and stopped encouraging people to have more children through propaganda posters. In the beginning of the 1970s, the government launched the “Later, Longer, Fewer” campaign. It encourage couples to marry at a later age, have 4-8 years break from the first child’s birth before having the second child, and couples were encouraged to have only 2 children (Greenhalgh 2008: 49). In 1979, the one-child policy was implemented to further control the population growth.
Description of One-Child Policy as it was First Implemented in 1979
The one-child policy restricted most families from having more than one child, and couples were required to get permission from the head of their work unit before having a child. Having a second child without permission, could lead to difficulties in registering the second child to the household registration system, and therefore losing the benefits of public health services and education for the child.
Heavy financial penalties were imposed on couples who violated the policy, the fine was based on the percentage of the annual income and both parents were fined every year for between 5 and 14 years (Li 1995: 564). Besides financial penalties...
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In 1979, China decided to establish a one child policy which states that couples are only allowed to have one child, unless they meet certain exceptions[1].In order to understand what social impacts the one child policy has created in China it important to evaluate the history of this law. China’s decision to implement a Child policy has caused possible corruption, an abuse of women’s rights, has led to high rates of female feticide, has created a gender ratio problem for China, and has led to specific problems associated with both the elderly and younger generation. Finally, an assessment of why China’s one child policy is important to the United States allows for a full evaluation of the policy.
Li, K., & Mengyan, F. (2013). A historical survey on modernization of Chinese culture. Asian Social Science, 9(4), 129-132. doi:10.5539/ass.v9n4p129
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 ...
However, the wish of having multiple children, especially boys, was challenged by the strict One Child policy in 1979. The One Child policy, also known as Family Planning policy, was implemented across the country as one of fundamental national policies under the administration of Population and Family Planning Commission. Based on the purpose of lowering fertility rates to ease social pressure and improve living standard, a married couple is only allowed to have one child with some exceptions made for some ethnic minorities and rural families. The majority of citizens are classified by ethnics and occupations to fit the specific regulations of compensations and punishments to prevent them from having a second child (Li, J., & Cooney, R, S. 1993).
By 1800, China’s Qing dynasty encountered several issues such as a growing population, peasant ...
Goodrich, L. Carrington (1959). A Short History Of The Chinese People. New York: Harper &
Population growth can be a sign of prosperity, but also an omen for disasters yet to come. The People’s Republic of China faced increased population growth in the early 1960’s after the “Great Famine”. In the late 1970’s, China quickly took action and implemented a policy that was based on the Malthusian principle of preventative checks. Under Mao’s rule, the “One-Child Policy” was implemented and over time it was strictly enforced. The one-child policy successfully slowed down population growth, but in order to accomplish this feat sex ratios were skewed more than before, age structure was disrupted, labor force dwindled, marriage became extremely competitive, some positive and negative changes in China’s development.
China’s child policy has changed a lot of people’s lives. It changed the number of children they could have. The policy has only changed once from being able to have one baby to being able to have two babies. China created that law because their population included more than 500 million people. This law has created much debate across the world.
... middle of paper ... ... As a result, overpopulation may not be that serious in some other countries, but it does be the most serious social problem in China.
Latzko, Laura. "The Effects of Population Growth in China." EHow. Demand Media, 29 May 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
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...
Due to the overpopulation in China, the chinese government came up with the one child policy, to counter this problem. However, this “solution” has caused more problems, with 108 males per 100 females, like the aging population in China, which will be discussed below.
Terzuolo, Chiara Park. "Opera and Politics: In China the Twain Shall Meet." Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs 9.1 (2009): 34-45. 13 Mar. 2009. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. .
Rosenberg, M. (2010, 11 17). China's one child policy. Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from About.com: