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Population policy of china
Causes and effects of one child policy
The problem of overpopulation in China and internationally
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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.
Background Information about the One Child Policy
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.
Once China’s population began to grow at an exponential rate the government feared that there would eventually be social unrest, and chaos. This social unrest and chaos would eventually cause an internal crisis for the country. At that time, China’s leaders believed that population control was one of its top priorities because it was precondition for the coun...
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...e economy. Since China and the United States have interconnected economies instability in China could lead to problems in the United States.
Conclusion
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
One reason why the One-Child policy in China did not work was because it did not affect their population. In Document A, it shows a population graph of China between 1950 and 2100. We can tell that during policy, it was not working because the population was rapidly growing and went up from 980 million in 1980, to 1.1 billion in 1990. Their population was meant to grow, and is expected to grow in the future. The rapid growth made the policy have no meaning, which is a reason why they had to end the policy 35 years later.
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?
After Mao Zedong won control of China, Mao’s revolution was based on the communist ideal of classless society, leaving China, a poor country, suffering from the years of war, disease, and natural disaster. The country’s population was the largest in the world and growing. Seeing all these problems China was facing due to overpopulation, China’s government came up with the one-child policy which would limit Chinese couple’s to one child each. The one-child policy was a good idea because it not only benefited boys, but it benefited girls by giving them better education, and better jobs. With more children it puts stress on the parent/guardian, and the child. The one-child policy also had a positive outcome with air pollution, and brought it down 17.6%, and water pollution by 30.8%.
This however, as wasn’t standardized, did not apply evenly across China until 1980, after which the central government decided to regulate the one-child policy, aiming to apply it all across China. Post policy implementation, roughly 4% more males than females were observed in the overall population. As per Chinese tradition, sons inherit the family name and property and are responsible for the care of the elderly in the family. Now, as the policy compelled people to have only one child, female abortions, female infanticide and abandoned baby girls were a few of the many cons of the policy. With the effective implementation of the policy, the gap between the number of males and females widened.
China's population reaches over 1.2 billion people, which makes up one-fifth of the world’s total population. In retrospect, China’s land mass is similar to that of the United States, but China has 4.5 times more people. However it is no surprise that overpopulation has become a concern for the Chinese government. Due to the rapid population growth, the economy began dwindling causing the poverty level to rise. This, unfortunately, left a plethora of people unemployed. Realizing these issues needed to be fixed, the government took immediate action. Deng Xiaoping, the leader of China, implemented the One Child Policy in 1979. The consequences of this decision was long yet to be discovered. However, though it helped slow the population growth, other problems started to arise. Consequently, the country ended up with over thousands of brutal abortions. The roots of this issue date back hundreds of years, and is still considered a contemporary issuet today. Regardless of what country, what year, what race or gender; people have always held strong feelings about this idea of contraception. Abortion is a form of birth control that is widely known and used. It is a contemporary issue that is notorious for causing grave debates. The conception of birth control is the main perpetrator of China’s abortion epidemic. As birth control laws were being enacted, women were involuntary forced to abort their child in order to sustain normal population numbers. This massive abortion epidemic flooded China as leaders forced one-child policies on the citizens and completely changed the people’s outlook on birth control. This idea of a one-child policy took away many of the peoples freedoms, allowing the government to have one hand ...
With the one-child policy being enacted in 1979, many wonder what sort of effect that it would have on China. What I believe to be the main effect of this policy, are the negative consequences that subsequently followed after the induction of the Family Planning Policy (one-child policy). Some of these effects include forced abortions, sex ratio differences, infanticide and many more. I think that since these effects are so harsh and so irrefutable, that the negative effects brought on by the one-child policy, have practically destroyed what you could call China’s family life.
In United States the economy has changed over the years the government wants their people to be more competitive and more marketable compared to other country such china. Many people have come to the conclusion that China may be a threat in the near future because of their growing economy and increasing influence in the world.
With more than 1.3 billion people, China has to think about a solution and find ways to deal with its population explosion. In order to have control over population, in 1970, a policy named China’s One Child Policy was introduced. Mingliang argues that, “China, through the one-child policy, has instituted the most aggressive, comprehensive population policy in the world” (1). This policy limits all families in the Republic of China to have only one child, regardless of the sex: however, within this policy there are some exceptions. It is possible to have two children only if the first child is born with a disability, if parents work in a high risk job, if the couple lives in villages, or if the family is a non- Han, otherwise you are allowed to have only one child. In China, if a family denies this policy, it is penalized by the government. According to Bluett, “these families are slapped with heavy fines and raised taxes and they no longer received free health care because defying the One Child Policy is considered a criminal act” (2). This policy is still effective today, and it has changed the life of the Chinese people in so many ways. China’s one child policy should change because with the implementation of this policy, China has faced a significant gender imbalance, as well as violating basic human rights. Consequently, this policy also has its positive side effects, such as reducing poverty and pushing the government to do something more about women’s rights.
China’s One Child Policy is still a current issue today. Before the policy was created, Mao Tse Dong, was China’s communist leader, who believed in planned births. He wanted the country to go by the slogan “later, longer, fewer.” This encouraged families to have fewer children, to space the births out longer, and to have them at a later age in life (Nadia 295). He believed that once people’s education increased so would the practice of birth control. This would help lower fertility rate and could bring some people out of poverty. After Mao Tse Dong’s death, the government took a more active stance on reducing population growth, so the One Child Policy was created and enforced. The One Child Policy became an issue in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but is still a debatable topic today. Deng Xiaoping was China’s new leader who greatly encouraged the new policy to be enforced. He believed that controlling the population would better the country. China’s family planning policy was introduced to alleviate social and economic problems but has increased forced abortions and infanticides.
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.
Rosenberg, M. (2010, 11 17). China's one child policy. Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from About.com: