China's One Child Policy Dbq

Chinese One Child Policy: Is it Good or Bad?
After a civil war in 1949, communist leader Mao Zedong, encouraged all of his Chinese citizens to have more babies in order to increase the amount of people available to work. Following this increase of population, 30 million people died as a result of famine because of a food shortage. The Chinese government soon realized a need for a decrease in population, encouraging citizens to have less children. Though they saw a decrease in childbirth, it was not enough for stability. This caused China's One Child Policy, which limited its Han Chinese citizens to having only one child by law. The One Child Policy was a good idea because of its environmental, economical, and social benefits to China.
One of the benefits of the One Child Policy are the many environmental

benefits on the Chinese citizens. As said in Document C, the One Child Policy has had a good affect on highly populated Chinese cities such as Henan. The city of Henan is extremely environmentally stressed and the policy has enabled a healthier lifestyle for the citizens. The amount of water pollution was reduced by 30.8%. This has allowed the people who live in cities such as Henan, with a high population with less land and water available, to have clean water to drink. The amount of sulfur dioxide in the air decreased by 17.6%. The decrease has prevented many of China’s citizens from potential illnesses, since sulfur dioxide is a major cause of asthma and bronchitis.
Another benefit of the One Child Policy is the mental well-being of the children.

Document D explains how urban singleton daughters are especially convenienced by the policy. In China, boys are of higher importance. Document D explains how having no brother is good for the daughters because they are not being compared to a brother. They are able to get as much attention and resources as they need. Instead of being compared to other siblings, they are taught to value education and success. In Document F, a man named A.J. Song from a small village in Guizhou province, explains how being an only child has made his life better. He says that he is the center of attention amongst his family, which makes him happy and does not make him feel lonely. He says that if he was not an only child “probably I’d be in my small village, getting married and having kids.” He also says, “if you have more kids in your family, they’re probably lacking in education, lacking in food, lacking any kind of support, no matter emotional or financial. Chinese studies show that when a child is an only child they “tend to score higher on intelligence tests and are better at making

friends.”
The last benefit is the economical benefit of the One Child Policy. The increase of women with well paying jobs shown in Document D, justifies the Document A shows that after 10 years, the population only increased by 100 million which is significantly less than the 200 million increase ten years prior. Document B states that the policy has prevented an estimate of 400 million. Evidently, the policy decreases the population, which in turn, increases the availability of jobs in China. An increase in job opportunities, leads to an increase in money flow, which overall benefits the country as a whole.
In conclusion, the One Child Policy has proven to be successful in accomplishing what the government set out for it to do; decrease the population size. The environmental, mental, and economical benefits outweigh any detriments. Many people in china are affected by this policy. The policy makes sure that there are not too many people as to where there is no room for the country to flourish.