When one thinks of China it is common to conjure up images of rice fields and of the great wall, but also of crowded cities teeming with people and bicycles and cars. One rarely thinks of a nation populated mostly by men and boys, with a noticeable yet surreal absence of women. While this is a bit of an exaggeration, it has been noted over the past several decades that there is an alarmingly imbalanced sex-ratio. The policy has clearly contributed to the nation’s unnatural gender imbalance, as couples use legal and illegal means to ensure that their only child is a son. There are 117 men to each 100 women in China (Goodkind, 2004). In the 1979, when the one-child policy was enacted, the intention was not to create this imbalance, but to …show more content…
Overall this movement was successful and China's population growth decreased from 1970 to 1976 (Fitzpatrick, 2009). Eventually this decrease slowed, and leveled off, prompting the government to take further action to slow the booming population. In 1979 a policy, known internationally as the one-child policy but more delicately called the “policy of birth planning”, was introduced requiring couples from China's ethnic majority to have only one child (Cai & Lavely, 2003).
While it seems somewhat reasonable for a government to encourage family planning, and to provide the population with access to birth control, it seems a bit out of line for them to ask a family to have only one child. The pressure of only having one child, in combination with a cultural favoritism toward males is what makes the one-child policy so gravely concerning. It is clear that the excess female infant mortality is directly attributable to the birth-control policy, which caused the pre-existing prevalence of son preference to escalate. In China, son preference is the product of ingrained social norms. Girls and women still occupy a lower social status in society (Zilberberg, 2007). The one-child policy requires authorization for each birth- children are required to be reported to receive documentation that allows them to be part of society- to attend school, to hold a job in adulthood, and to marry. Women are consistently
In 1980 China introduced the one-child policy to save it from a famine. In 1980 China had a fertility rate of 2.7 children per women that lived in China. Document B states, “The claim by Chinese officials that the one child policy has helped avert 400 million births simply cannot be substantiated by facts.” The fertility rate means the number of children a women has in her lifetime. Since 1980, China's one child policy is helping
First, China’s One-Child Policy was upsetting to many females. In document D it
The Chinese government thought that the population was getting too high so they limited the amount of Chinese kids families and couples can have to one which given that the fertility rates right before the policy has already been cut from 5.8 to 2.7 it became very dangerous to lower it even more. " China had already achieved a remarkable fertility reduction, halving the number of children per woman from 5.8 in 1970 to 2.7 in 1979" (Document B). With low fertility rates, the government claims to have averted 400 million births that simply cannot be undone.
In countries without a forceful and costly policy like China’s, birth rates have declined with similar trajectories and magnitude." This evidence supports the claim that the one-child policy was a bad policy because it didn't have any notable effects on China's fertility rate. The one-child policy was completely unnecessary because it did not make any positive changes. If China had never implemented the one-child policy and instead tried to figure out what other countries such as Brazil, South Korea, and Thailand did to get their fertility rates so low, their fertility rates would most likely be right where they want it at. This is how China's one-child policy had no notable impact on their fertility rate, and why it was an unnecessary policy to
China's one-child policy In China there was a civil war that ended in 1949, this caused China to do something desperate to help their country. Leader at the time, Mao Zedong, decided that something impactful had to be done because the country was having troubles especially economic troubles. He thought that if the population grew, it would mean a stronger nation for China, therefore pregnancy was encouraged. It was until he realized that this did not help at all because the population became too large and there wasn't enough food and resources to feed everyone. Then the idea came to introduce the one child policy.
China’s One-Child Policy was a bad decision because it disrupted the traditional family ratio, disturbed the balance of the economy, and had drastic social costs for
The freedom that Americans have to raise their children according to their beliefs starkly contradicts the one-child policy implemented in China. The one-child policy was a program designed to restrict Chinese families to only one child, with severe consequences lined up for those who disobeyed. It was met with harsh opposition, from Chinese citizens as well as from other countries. The policy succeeded in creating smaller families, but it unleashed a slew of unintended consequences, including a higher crime rate and an increase in the elderly population, who only have one child to support them. Most significantly, the policy caused a national “gendercide” and an influx of Chinese bachelors, indirectly causing an increase in sex trafficking in and around the country. Did the one-child policy achieve its intended effect, or did it cause many more inadvertent effects that it could not control?
China’s one-child policy made it illegal for most Chinese couples to have more than one child. It was the culmination of the government’s long struggle to control population growth. The policy was enforced mainly through financial incentives and punishments, but in rural areas brutal enforcement techniques like non-consensual sterilization and abortion were sometimes used. While the policy did reduce the population, it also caused problems such as an unbalanced male-female sex ratio and “4:2:1 families.” The one-child policy shows that women in Communist China remained in a position of social and political inferiority.
Although the One-Child Policy in China had downfalls, the benefits overcome. In fact, many believe China’s One-Child Policy was not a good idea and had many flaws. I strongly believe China’s One-Child Policy was a sufficient theory in assisting environmental crises, strengthening feminine power, and revealing benefits of having singleton
Due to the one-child policy there are many serious human rights infractions. Since the policy has been in effect, there have been more than 400 million prevented births ("China:
After a large increase in population, the Chinese government decided to step in and create the one-child policy. To enforce their new policy, the government issued high taxes and fines for couples who violated the policy. If a couple’s first child is a girl, they can request to have another child but only if it has been five years and they have been considered eligible. That also contributes to the culture’s preference for male offspring. Male offspring can carry on the family name so to a culture that holds strong family values it is ideal to have a son. This want for male children is causing China many problems. China is now facing a gender gap that has started to affect the Chinese economy. By the year 2035, twenty percent of China’s population will be over the age of 65. That is twenty percent of the workforce gone, with no one to replace them. Leaving all the economic pressure on the younger
Most females are not respected and are heavily pressured by their parents. Many Chinese women are expected to be in arranged marriages and are not respected in their family or the work-place. Woman that aren’t even born yet suffer from infanticide. If the parents came to find that they were having a girl from ultrasound- they would abort that child and try for a boy causing pre-birth ultrasounds to be banned. “Negative social consequences, particularly sex discrimination. With boys being viewed as culturally preferable, the practice of female infanticide was resumed in some areas shortly after the one-child policy took effect.” (Document E) “I hate to say it but the one-child policy should party be blamed for some social issues in youth today.” “She wished she has a brother or sister to share all the attention.” (Document F) This evidence supports the claim that the one-child policy was a bad policy because women have always been culturally no preferable, causing unborn females to be aborted.
There has been a long history of China’s one child policy, since it was first introduces in 1979 by a Chinese Leader Deng Xiaoping (Rosenberg n.p). The law was meant to be temporary and used to control the population; however it is still in use today (Rosenberg n.p). When the policy was first enforced, it only
The One-Child Policy has its pros and cons. It has benefited China as it reduced social problems, economic problems, environmental problems, and poverty. Of course, it has its downsides as well. This policy involves forced abortions and an increase in problems with family support. One must decide if the One-Child Policy is either necessary or a terrible idea. In my opinion, I honestly believe that the
Since 1980, China has made its people the subject of an intrusive and unfair, One Child Policy. This policy was the result of Chinese officials becoming worried of the countries jump in population from 1960 to 1980 causing a widespread lack of resources, so they decided to induct a law that would make force Chinese citizens to be limited to one child. Because of this controversial policy the question has been raised, did the one child policy positively or negatively effect China? The one child policy did negatively effect China and its people, because it resulted in gender discrimination, unjust punishments and was unnecessary due to the already declining fertility rate.