One-Child Policy in China - Research Paper Example

One-Child Policy in China The government of China has established and implemented a one-child policy in order to control the country’s population, and currently, over 90 per cent of urban children and over 60 per cent of rural children have no siblings (Chen 74). Actually, during the 1970s, China had introduced a two-child policy to curb the rapid population growth (Von 4). Practically, one-child policy in China has been formulated for three decades now, and most couples are expected to have only one child, with the exception of ethnic minorities and rural residents to have more than one child (Zhai and Gao 746). Therefore, no family was expected to illegally have a second child after 1979 when one-child policy was introduced, but the minority women are allowed to have a second child (Li, Yi and Zhang 1537). For the past few years in some Chinese cities, couples particularly who are both single children in their homes, that is, have no siblings, have been given a chance of having a second child. China’s national fertility reduced especially in early 1990s after women were instructed to have only one child (Cai 419). This paper provides a very thoughtful discussion on the one-child policy in China by exploring what the policy entails, and evaluating its possible effects to individuals and the government at large. The one-child policy in China today is because of the country’s historical development and also a product of the changing population policies created by the Chinese government (Sun and Zhangling 317). A report by Chinese Health Ministry revealed that about 336 million abortions and 222 million sterilizations had been carried out since the implementation of one child policy. In addition, the ministry of health admits that Chinese doctors conduct over 330m abortions over the forty years since the inception of this policy (Alton 114). One-child policy has become a national policy in China and it promotes late marriage, fewer and healthier births (Su and Macer 18). More so, it drastically reduced China’s fertility rate after the major baby booms of the previous years (Zhan 53). One child policy has been strictly enforced, for instance, the couples who flout the rules possibly face heavy fines, lose their property or even their jobs, and in most cases, going against this policy would call for unaffordable fines. The main goal of this policy was to convince people to understand the advantages of adoption the one-child families but again, those who failed to abide with the new law were punished accordingly (Pascu 104). Some people suggested that, one child policy would be adjusted and modified gradually to promote long-term balanced development of the population in China, and it is obvious that China established its one child policy in order to curb rapid population growth. However, some leaders are afraid that this policy increases the growth of the ageing population that is likely to reduce labor pool and eliminate elderly care issues. As time goes by, Mao Zedong implemented a one-child policy in China to reduce the birth rate further (Von 4). China’s population control policy, one child policy, was introduced in 1979 to curb rapid population growth (BBC News) and to promote economic growth, but this policy has created economic and cultural challenges. At this time, Chinese government was convinced that controlling population would help in alleviating its social, economic as well as environmental problems. Chinese government declared its one child, one couple and this way, it managed to aid economic expansion, and curbing population growth (Nakra 134). Before the introduction of this policy, Chinese central government had introduced the government policy to manage population and was only implemented in the rural areas, but the implementation of one-child policy was extended even in urban areas. In addition, ethnic minorities, disabled people and couples who both lack siblings are also given the option of having two children. Report shows that one child policy dictates that about a third of China’s population cannot have a second child without incurring fine, but again, there is a contradiction between the state’s implementation of the family planning policy and the desire of every individual or family to give birth. On the contrary, this policy violates the basic human rights as stated by United Nations that every couple has the right to decide the number of children they wand and after what duration (Su and Macer 16). The advocates against this policy condemn it claiming that it has resulted to forced abortions, female infanticides, and reduced reports of birth rates, but most importantly, they have argued that this policy is associated with China’s gender imbalance. Some people have argued that due to this policy, women have been coerced into abortions and following the traditional preferences for boys, gender imbalance has been created as some couples opt for sex selective abortions. The increasing sex ratio is caused by son preference and low fertility rate resulting from one-child policy (Li, Yi and Zhang 1538). Traditionally, the patriarchal family in China dominated and so many coupled preferred the only child to be a boy to continue perpetuating the family surname as well as the lineage of the family (Zhai and Gao 746). Consequently, Western couples adopted many abandoned girls filled in various orphanages. Sadly, report shows that quite a number of men will be left single in that, China’s gender imbalance will prevent men from finding wives. More so, most of the elderly are being cared for by the relatives, and literally, children from single-child parents face the challenge of caring for the two parents and four grandparents. China introduced a law requiring children with parents who are over 60 years to visit their parents frequently and ensure that they offer the necessary financial assistance. Therefore, in a few years’ time, a good portion of China’s population will be old and so younger generations will face an unprecedented burden of care, and currently, China is moving towards loosening its notorious one child policy, but some researchers have claimed that China’s one child policy will hurt the country for decades despite its reform. For instance, the population will continue getting old speedily causing a colossal drain on the country to sustain all the senior citizen. In addition, the acute shortage of women for men to marry though slightly easing, will continue to plague marriage for years, and lastly, the labor force has already reached the peak, but it will quickly shrink in the next few decades. Therefore, the government wishes to change this policy and by allowing couples to have families if one of them is a single child, is one way to relax the policy (BBC News). The policymakers believed that limiting China’s population growth through the introduction of one child policy, the country would get richer faster. They thought that having fewer children would help in boosting the county’s economic growth. Through its family planning policy, china has controlled its rapid population growth and eased the pressures that the population imposes on the natural environment, but most importantly, the implementation of one child policy has significantly reduced the rapid population growth and also contributed positively to economic growth thereby improving population quality. Reports reveal that today, China is the second largest economy in the world and grows consistently (Nakra 135). Accordingly, one child policy has led to increased case of divorce as marriages virtually succeed if the husband has sisters and the wife has brothers, and this is very difficult because having a sibling in China is like a dream. Some have described one-child policy as outdated and cruel; for instance, in urban areas this policy has created a demographic crunch leaving single children in a financial bind as they try to support two parents and four grandparents, and this created a 4-2-1 family structure (Zhan 53). On the contrary, in the rural areas, one child policy has fuelled a rise in sex-selective abortions because many rural families prefer having boys to girls. This shows that the combination of reduced birth rates and people living longer causes many problems within China with the single-children being the most affected because they are expected to financially support their parents as well as their grandparents. However, those couples who have only daughters are at risk because the daughter is likely to get married and join her husband, and it would be almost impossible to come back and take care of her parents and grandparents (Zhai and Gao 746). Accordingly, one child policy in China may also have an impact on the economic activities. Various studies reveal that China’s only children are more risk-averse and are less likely to be self-employed, and this as a result could make the economy of China less industrialized in the coming years. Moreover, in the rural areas, couples made economic sacrifice to have one child because children are expected to help in the farms. Chinese single children are more reliant on their parents and less independent because most parents tend to treat their children in a classic manner. Accordingly, a study conducted by Western scholars- Falbo and Polit- reveal that, “single-children tend to be dominated more by self- seeking instincts, and commanding more attention from their homes” (Chen 74). Furthermore, the society needs different types of people to perform different types of roles, but currently, China has a generation of people who entirely grew up in one role. Many scholars have advised the government to reform the one-child policy that was introduced to prevent rapid population growth many years back claiming that this policy now is outdated and harmful to the economy, and according to them, the one-child policy has destabilized China’s competitive superiority by not bringing up adequate young upcoming workforces. More so, this policy leaves elderly parents with smaller number of children, usually one or two to upkeep. Therefore, China cannot really depend on an unlimited labor supply to promote its future economic development. Arguably, the strict law has been applied to urban families where there is the highest portion of the population because historically, urban couples had more children. Furthermore, rural were more in interested in helpers to work on the farm and they are more likely opt for a son. As a result of the introduction of the one-child policy, Chinese analysts were worried about the shrinking number of young workers and also lack of enough children to take care of the elderly, and so many have argued that one-child policy has unsettled Chinese people both communally and economically. Chinese children and grownups who at no time enjoyed growing up in the competitive setting of family members and were raised up in a pampered environment and this as a result created a society of self-centered individuals. Many news reports are worried that single-child families would lead to self-centered children and little emperors (Chen 74), more so, various studies show that China singletons are more likely to grow up spoiled and self-centered, but some people disagree with this claiming that China’s single children grows up just like other children, there is no difference. Growing up in the absence of siblings does not necessarily lead to spoiled children. Arguably, in ancient China, the feudal lords considered population as a form of wealth and land was given out accordingly (Sun and Zhangling 310). Before the introduction of one-child policy, Chinese families used to have an average of four children, but suddenly, their lives changed in 1979 when they were dictated to have only one child, and it was very hard for those who were accustomed to large families. More so, before, most families used to choose just one of their children to progress in school but with the new population control policy, the new Chinese singletons are more educated as compared to the generation before them. Culturally, the Chinese preferred boy children to girls because boys were known to perpetuate the name of the family and fully support their parents in old age. This was very important to many families following the fact that there are no pensions and inadequate social care for elderly people. Due to this, many parents to abort girl fetuses and those girls that survived were adopted out of China. Traditionally, a girl is known to leave her natural family after marriage and joins her husband and this is impacts negatively on the economy of rural families such as loss of work force (Pascu 104). Moreover, this has led to a huge unnatural gender imbalance in the China’s population. More so, because of this gender imbalance, young Chinese men find it hard to find a girl to marry. Some people are actually happy with the policy arguing that they get much attention and love which would not have experienced in the presence of siblings. Children that were born in 1970s and 1980s were surrounded with many siblings and large extended families but those born after the introduction of the law, are raised by parents who are single children themselves with fewer cousins, aunts and uncles and so they grew up in smaller families than before. More so, the resources that had been spread among several children in the past generations were now focused on one child, however, some people feel lonely without brothers or sisters and as a result, they fear even interacting with other individuals freely. Single children only associate with cousins and friends because there are no siblings to relate to. Therefore, apart from the absence of brothers and sisters, every family had huge amounts of discretionary income to invest in the child’s education and in consumption as well. Moreover, some people have criticized this policy claiming that it leads to the violation of the right to reproductive freedom. All these are a clear indication of how the introduction and implementation of one child policy in China changed individuals’ lives. Arguably, the one-child policy in China mostly affected many Chinese especially, women, peasants and workers, older people, striving young couples as well as the single-children (Green 273). Furthermore, the government has put an initiative on how to help elderly persons who happen not to have any child such provision of social care. Even with certain modifications and adjustments, this policy applies to nearly two-third Chinese families today (Cai 420). More so, some people have argued that even the two-child policy will not discourage sex-selective abortions of baby girls, and that all these can only end when China abolishes all coercive birth limits (Alton 116). In conclusion, the main aim of Chinese government to introduce one-child policy was to curb rapid population growth and boost its economic development. This policy stated that couples are expected to have only one child except the minorities and maybe those living in rural areas. Any family with illegal second child faced unaffordable punishments, and so mothers were forced to abort and men sterilized to avoid giving birth illegally. More so, many parents preferred boy children to girls to continue with the family lineage and uphold the family surname. Single-children are the most affected by this policy because apart from loneliness, they are supposed to provide financial support to their two parents and four grandchildren. Overall, some people are against this policy while others are happy with this policy for different reasons and the government has been working hard towards reforming this policy. Works Cited Alton, David. China and One Child. The Human Life Review. 2013, pp. 114-116. Cai, Ong. China's Below-Replacement Fertility: Government Policy or Socioeconomic development. Population and Development Review, 2010, 36(3): 419-440. Chen, Xuefeng. The Social Impact of China’s One-Child Policy.Harvard Asia Pacific Review, pp. 74-76. China Reforms: One-Child Policy to Be Relaxed. BBC News, China. 2013. Green, Lawrence W. Promoting the One-Child Policy in China. 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