The Effects of Chinas One-Child Policy - Research Paper Example

The effects of China’s One-Child Policy The one-child policy introduced in China as a population control measure has had many adverse effects on the country and the globe. At a micro level, fertility rate and birth rate have decreased hence the population growth. Further, family and marriage values and structure have revolutionized due to the one child policy. At a macro level, effects such as sex ratio imbalance, increase in the cost of education as well as an increased dependency ratio are some of the effects that continue to be felt. This paper will discuss and analyze the adverse effects of the policy on individuals, families, communities, the state and the globe at large. Later, the paper will outline some of the possible solutions to the adverse effects of the enactment of the policy. Micro Level Effects Enactment of the one-child policy caused a lot of dilemmas for individuals, couples and the society at large. Women had to bear the burden of losing children through abortions and infanticides. On the other hand, women who choose to keep their children were faced with stigmatization and discrimination in the society. The fines enacted upon an unlawful birth were economically costly to the family (Roy, Blomqvist and Clark, 16). Besides raising a child in stigma, cost of raising the child, couples had to pay government fines. Human trafficking and kidnapping of women to marry them off destroyed their dignity. The policy caused polarization and tension in the society between the administrators and the society. An open letter written to President Xi Jinxing during the 34th anniversary of China’s one child policy the writer refers to the policy as barbaric. The policy is said to have caused millions of women devastating pain. The policy is further accused of being the only legal policy that caused more violence against women and girls. Reports of the effects of the policy often flaunt news headlines: “Chinese Mother, fined $54,200 for Flouting One-child Policy,” as posted on MSCBN world news website. A case is reported of a student who delivered in the University washrooms and stuffed her baby down the toilet pipe before fleeing the scene. Cases of forced abortion and suicide or murder as a result of the dispute with a family planning official over fines are numerous in China. Low fertility and birth rate There is a notable gradual decrease in the fertility rate, birth rate and consequently a decrease in population growth in China. The number of children in an urban household is averagely one and two for the rural households (Hong 2). The policy compels women to have children in later stages of life. At this stage, a woman’s fertility is declining. As a result, women who manage to get children do so with very low chances of a second conception. Furthermore, as the Canadian Medical Association Journal (15) points out, the enactment of the Child policy saw emergence of practices such as sex-selective abortions and infanticide. These practices were considered a violation of human rights. In comparison to the 1985 population, China’s current population stands at 1.4billion (Hesketh et al. 86). The preference of boy child in the Chinese society has had its consequences on the country’s sex ratio, old age dependency, family structure, economy and family and marriage structure. Family and Marriage Single child families are now phenomenal in China. Vanessa Fong a sociologist at the Amherst College in Massachusetts coined the term “singletons” to refer to such children. A research was done by some Australian researchers to determine whether the behavioral traits of children born in single child families were different. The research revealed that these children were more risk averse, less trusting and less competitive (Roy, Blomqvist and Clark, 230). In the end, China will have a generation of singletons in business, leadership and government. The risk here is that it will be a generation of social incompetence as these children did not have an opportunity to exercise their social skills when growing up. In addition, some parents are concerned that their children will not be able to establish long-term friendships. The single child families have also led to the emergence of the little emperor syndrome. This is as a result of lavishing the child receives from its parent and grandparents. Single child families diluted the aspect of communalism brought about by larger families. The elders have no one to take care of them while the mature adults are faced with the challenge of providing for themselves, their parents and their children (Hong 157). The economic burden has been placed on the few dependents as the rate of old age dependency continues to increase. The labor market is faced with a challenge of a decreasing workforce. In a bid to eliminate this challenge, China has been importing human resource from across the globe. China’s economy is booming ad requires a large workforce to sustain the boom. One child policy has cut down the interaction, size and diminished the value of extended family. As Vanessa Fog points out, family relationships are not as valuable as before. Previously, people did not migrate to the urban centers but rather stayed around to enjoy the sense of belonging. Families have fewer members, fewer cousins, fewer aunties, and uncles. The contemporary family is also at risk of increased divorce rate. There is a new entrant in the research field: Chinese divorce, an indicator of an increasing divorce rate. Couples, especially those living in urban areas, feel that they have divorce as an option. Conversely, following the shortage of the girl child, marriage became a social status marker (Whyte and William159). As there are no enough girls to go around in marriage, marriage has become a privilege for a chosen few. It is now seen assign of power, status, and wealth. Macro Level Although the Chinese government still upholds a requirement on the number of children a couple should have, the approach of enforcement has changed from administrative coercion. In fact, a law was put in place that illegalized administrative coercion on the use of birth control (Roy, Blomqvist and Clark, 58). China continues to face frowns from the global community as a result of the inhumane acts associated with the policy. China also continues to face pressure from various international bodies to eliminate the one child policy as it is seen as a threat to human rights. The question begs ‘how states will control their population growth while upholding human rights?’ The one child policy opened up a pathway for various unethical practices. For instance, the preference of the boy child led to sex-selective abortions and infanticides. In 2000, 90% of abortions done that year were female fetus (Hesketh et al. 102. A lot of girls ended up homeless or killed. Further on, the sex ratio imbalance encouraged practices such as human trafficking, kidnapping, and commercial sex workers. The policy raised eyebrows across international quarters on whether it is ethical to control human reproduction. The 2013 TIP report ranked China as a Tier 3 nation on the basis that China was trafficking women and children from neighboring countries for sexual exploitation and forced labor (MSNBC World News). Increased Dependency Ratio As a result of low birth rate, a ratio of ‘4:2:1 phenomenon’ arose in China. China is experiencing a stable life expectancy that is evidenced by 7.5% of the population older than 65years (Hong 26). Pension covers are provided only to people who worked as civil servants. As such, majority of the old depend on their children for sustenance. The term ‘4:2:1 phenomena’ was coined to refer to the situation that is happening in China where a couple takes care of their one child and their four parents. This translates to a dependency ratio of 2:5. The ‘4:2:1 phenomenon has a ripple effect on the society. Couples have a challenge to provide for its parents, children, sustain their individual lifestyles and still save up some money for their retirement. Therefore, it encourages continuity of the phenomena (Roy, Blomqvist and Clark, 168). Sex Ratio Imbalance For every 100 girls in China, there are approximately 120 boys (Hesketh et al. 167). It amounts to a 1.3 sex ratio that translates to between 20-30 million men surplus. The shortage of girls has resulted in the social disruptive behaviors in men as well as mental health problems in men. Men are unable to marry and establish a family and therefore to commercial sex workers to meet their sexual needs. This has a potential of increasing the prevalence of STIs and HIV infections hence hurting the workforce and ultimately the economy. Practices such as kidnapping and human trafficking of women for marriage also became common. Education and Workforce The cost of education has reasonably gone high. It can be attributed to the fact that the traditional Chinese family had at least four children. Education then was not very accessible, and so a family had to choose one member to educate. With the one child policy and the contemporary lifestyle, education became very paramount hence expensive. However, the rate at which elementary schools are closing down is worrying. Between 1995 and 2008 the number of elementary schools decreased from 25.7% to 16.7% (Hong 25). It has impacted the labor sector negatively as workforce composition aged 20-29years has decreased by 14% in the last decade. It is expected that this composition will decrease by a further 17% in the next two decades if all factors remain constant. Health Risks A study conducted by a team from Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital revealed that induced abortion increased the risk of breast cancer. The research deduced that the risk was at 44% for one induced abortion, 76% of two induced abortions and 89% of three induced abortions (Roy, Blomqvist and Clark, 168). The research further highlighted an increased incidence of breast cancer in China over the last two decades. The increased incidence was linked to induced abortions because of the one-child policy. Solutions Elimination of the One-Child Policy Efforts have been made to combat the disadvantageous effects of the one-child policy. There are numerous debates both in China and internationally on whether or not to eliminate the one-child policy. The average fertility rate across the globe has reasonably decreased over the decade (Hesketh Et al. 145). Contemporary and urban lifestyles encourage smaller families compared to the traditional families. Also, most people want to have the opportunity to further their careers and academics beyond the responsibilities of parenting and child rearing. As such, the average population growth rate has decreased remarkably across the globe even without enactment of policies to control population growth. The issue of whether or not the one child policy was effective in combating an overwhelming population growth remains debatable. However, could elimination of the one-child policy be a solution to the adverse effects of the policy? Well, eliminating the policy would ease up on the societys expectations on gender preferences. It would further discourage practices such as infanticide and sex-selective abortions. Consequently, this would balance out the sex ratio over time. However, there is an existing challenge to eliminating sex-selective abortions. Although selective abortions in China are illegal, the Chinese law allows for abortion. As such, a couple can have a sex-selective abortion as health workers have no parameters to determine whether or not an abortion is sex-selective (Hong 169). The solution for managing sex-selective abortion lies in changing attitudes and perceptions towards girls. Publicity campaigns on promoting the girl child are widespread and could cause a shift in the society’s perception of girls, in the long run. Legal amendments The Chinese Government has put in place three laws in attempt to address infanticides and sex-selective abortion (Roy, Blomqvist and Clark, 168). First, the womens protection law was put in place to ban discrimination against women who choose to keep female babies. Secondly, the marriage law put a burn on female infanticides as a way of promoting marriage in the society. Finally, the maternal health care law was put in place and prohibited use of technological equipment to determine the gender of the fetus. This was aimed at curbing sex-selective abortion. Moreover, international laws and the UN are clear on the Bill of rights. Practices such as female human trafficking and kidnapping are illegal across the globe. Social activity for ‘singletons “Singletons” have been brought up in a society that emphasis on the importance of education while ignoring the aspect of social development. To compensate for a lack of siblings, the society has come up with mechanisms to provide the single child an opportunity to interact and exercise their social muscles. Gatherings such as outings and community outreach programs have become a common platform for engagement (Hesketh 100). However, care must be taken when organizing these gatherings to ensure minimal risk as the welfare of the child is paramount. This is because, for a single child family, loss of their child would be a devastating loss to the family. Pension plans The ‘4:2:1 phenomena’ is bound to have continuity as long as the ratio of old age dependency is high. Improved access to government pension plans would play a huge role in combating this challenge. The Chinese government could also borrow from the west and establish elder care centers. This is especially applicable in cases where adult children are willing and able to give financial support, but they are unable to provide the required care. Tamara Trinh in her remarks on the China special (Hesketh et al. 56) notes that the Chinese pension system needs a reform. She advises that this could be achieved by having a centralized management of pension and increasing financing. Conclusion Quarter a decade after enactment of the policy that has received criticism from around the globe, the effects of the policy continues to be felt. The world waits eagerly to see whether China will do away with the policy. Although the Chinese government has made efforts to ease the restrictions of the policy, a major difference is yet to be seen. For instance, in adapting client-centered family planning services couple can now make a choice of their contraception method. The continuing international outcries in regards to the inhumane acts and adverse effects on the policy are bound to spur a change or revision of the policy. Works Cited Baculinao, Eric. “China Grapples with Legacy of Its ‘Missing Girls”. World News on msnbc.com. September 14, 2004. Web. Hesketh, Therese, Li Lu, and Zhu Wei Xing. The Effects of Chinas One-Child, Family Policy after 25 Years. The New England Journal of Medicine 353 (2005): 1171- 1176. Hong, Lawrence K. Potential Effects of the One-Child Policy on Gender Equality in the Peoples Republic of China. Gender and Society .Sage Publications. 2011. Print. Roy, K. Chandra, Blomqvist, Hans-Christer and Clark, Cal. Economic Development in China, India and East Asia: Managing Change in the Twenty-First Century. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012. Print. Whyte, Martin King, and William L. Parish. Urban Life in Contemporary China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2004. Print Read More