Over the past 35 years, China has attempted to keep its booming population in check by
instituting a one-child-per-family policy.
And while more than three quarters of Chinese citizens support the idea, China is looking
to revamp the program into a two-child policy.
Many have argued that population control methods create more problems than they solve, and
in China’s case, are set to cripple the economy.
So we wanted to know, Is China’s One Child Policy a Failure?
Well, the policy was originally instated after China’s population exploded in the 20th
century.
From roughly 700 million residents in the 1960s, to more than a billion in the 1980s,
Chinese officials implemented the one-child plan to cut 300 million residents.
In 2011, the government claimed that the policy, and other birth control methods, have led
to the prevention of 400 million births.
However, critics point out that the drop in births is due to lower fertility rates, which
are consistent with lower rates in countries without such policies, like Thailand.
In fact, China’s one-child policy isn’t really true to its name.
For starters, it only affects about a third of China’s population, making exceptions
for ethnic minorities and rural residents.
It also often does not apply if a couple’s first child is female.
New rules in 2013 also allowed parents without siblings to have up to two children.
But despite the limited enforcement, the one-child policy has led to severe imbalances in Chinese
society.
Women are often pressured into having abortions if pregnant with a second child, as the penalty
ranges from a fine, to even losing your job.
In 2013, China’s Health Ministry revealed that more than 300 million abortions had been
performed to maintain the one-child policy.
Another major problem is that the system of fining violators means that wealthy residents
are able to have many children, while the impoverished are penalized.
Perhaps the worst side effect of the policy has been referred to as the “Missing Women”
problem.
Because having male children is preferred in Chinese society, baby girls are sometimes
killed, aborted, or given up for adoption in an effort to “try again” for a boy.
This phenomenon was calculated in 1990 to be responsible for at least 50 million “missing
women” in China, and as many as 100 million worldwide.
The policy also creates an extremely difficult situation for parents and their children,
known as the “4-2-1 problem”.
Chinese society stresses that children are to take care of their aging relatives.
But with the one-child policy, a single person ends up responsible for both parents, and
all four grandparents, creating tremendous strain, with no siblings to help.
The shrunken youth demographic, comprised overwhelmingly of males, is also poised to
severely diminish the economy as larger, older generations retire.
Although the elderly only comprise about 12% of the population, by 2050 they are expected
to represent a full third.
China’s one-child policy, like many government sanctioned forms of population control, has
led to severe negative effects, and even human rights abuses.
So with 1.3 billion people, representing the most populated country on earth, is it safe
to say that the one-child policy is a failure?
Obviously, yes.
But besides the one-child policy, there are many aspects of Chinese culture that are massively
misunderstood.
To learn about some of those misunderstandings, check out this video by Seeker Daily.
If you’re interested in how other countries have tried to control their populations, watch
this video about Iran’s family planning laws.
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