China’s one child policy was initiated in 1979, but it has been announced that it ended early 2016. The policy states that Han Chinese are not allowed to have more than one child; however, the government doesn’t always enforce punishment. Was the mandate of only 1 child per Han family a good idea? China’s one child policy was a poorly conceived idea taking away the freedom to choose, care for the elderly, and ruining economic growth. Many people believe in the freedom to choose how many kids they want. According to Document B, “In countries without a forceful and costly policy as China’s, birth rate has declined with similar trajectories and magnitude.” This proves that people still have the freedom they desire and can keep the birth rates and population growth down. Additionally in Document F an internet survey states 58 percent of Chinese children admit to being lonely. If the parents had a choice then the children could have the sibling companionship they desire. Another flaw in the policy is care for the elders. In accordance with Document B, “The one child policy, critics warned, would forcefully alter kin relations for Chinese families, and result in accelerated aging…” If people age …show more content…
faster and the younger generation can’t keep up- who will care for them. According to Document E, “Analysts fear that with too few children to care for them, China’s elderly people will suffer neglect.” As you can see, elders are an important part of the Chinese community. With a shortage of youth, it is unclear of who will take care of the elderly. Most importantly, the economy will suffer from a shortage of strong, young people.
In accordance with Document E, “...factories have reported youth-labor shortages in recent years, a problem that will only get worse. In 2007 there were six adults of working age for every retiree, by by 2040 that ratio is expected to drop to 2 to 1.” In other words, China’s workforce and economy will take a hard hit for the decrease in young and disabled workers. The projection chart on Document A demonstrates the projected population for China’s future. China’s population makes a large increase and then proceeds toward a steady decrease. Once those numbers go down, the young workers will as well. With such a large part of the population being elderly this affects the economy very
negatively. Opposing views claim, the policy has had a positive impact on society. In Document D, they inform the reader about “Urban Singleton Daughters”. These daughters are only children that are treated as prized possessions without brothers to compete for their parents attention with. They make the life seem fantastic, but in Document F, this information is met with a clashing idea. Xiao Xuan says “I hate to say it but the one-child policy should partly blamed for some social issues of youth today.” She states that at times she wishes to have a sibling to share her parents attention with. As it turns out, she isn’t the only one- as 58 percent of children between the ages of 15-25 admitted to being lonely. This is just more proof that the plan does more harm than good. Although there are conflicting opinions on the policy, it is just not a good policy. There are other ways to keep populations under control as proven by Brazil and Thailand in Document B. Therefore, China’s One Child Policy was an inferior idea.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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...
Given the high sex ratio in recent China population report, the abnormally excessive male birth exemplifies the persistence of son preference on women’s fertility behavior. Son preference rooted in Chinese agriculture-based economy and historical feudalism, in consistence with the reliance on laborers and continuing the family line. Older people prefer to depend on their sons to get financial and physical support, while daughters are regarded as property of their husband’s family since the day of marriage.
Second, overpopulation leads to the result of a rather low SOL( Standard of Living) in China. SOL means GDP per person, and it is an important index of the real national economic status. Although China makes great economic achievements and improvements every year, the economic achievements is not that glorious when divided by the large denominator of population. B...
Though China is the world's fifth-largest country in terms of area and the second largest country in Asia, it is the most populous country in the world. There is over one billion Chinese people which is 19 percent of the world's population and the population still keeps growing. From 2000 to 2010, Chinese population growth is about 6.2% and if we compared the population from 1960 with 2010, the population had grown more than 100%. While half of Chinese people live in the rural areas, the urban population is growing rapidly. In January 2012, urban population has exceeded the rural population for the first time. Now about 100 million rural people become migrant workers which move in and out the cities in search of work. This has caused many problems in China , since in the past and the present day, such as traffic jams in the city, pollution, and most importantly the shortage of food and shelter. This might affect the Chinese economic as well.
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.
During the rein of Mao Tse-tung China’s population was almost at one million. Mao allowed couples to have as many children as they please because to him, “of all the things in the world people are the most precious.”(Fitzpatrick 2). As the as the population continued to grow the government became concerned and decided that population control was necessary in order to remain able to support the citizens of China. Furthermore, the government feared there would not be enough food to upkeep residents. The next leader, Deng Xioping, created the “One Child Policy” therefore preventing families from having more than one child. On September 25th 1980 the policy was instituted. Subsequently this law has prohibited children and parents the experience of having a big family.
Rosenberg, M. (2010, 11 17). China's one child policy. Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from About.com: