The rising son: Couples are encouraged to have just one child. If the child happens to be a girl, the couple can have another child in the hopes of having a boy. After the second child it is no longer allowed to have babies. The government has a large impact on the one child policy. There are both rewards for people having only one child, and penalties for people having more than one child. Some rewards are: Higher wages, interest-free loans, retirement funds and more. Some penalties are: Fines from 370$ to 12,800$, pressure to abort pregnancy, getting fired from work. |
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Has it been successful? Between 1979 to 2010 an estimate of 400 million births have been prevented due to this rule. 76% of Chinese support this rule.
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When?
In 1955 officials launched a campaign to promote birth control, only to have their efforts reversed in 1958 by the Great Leap Forward. By 1962 a massive famine had caused some 30 million deaths. In the aftermath, officials quietly resumed a propaganda campaign to limit population growth, only to be interrupted by the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in 1966; it began it again in 1969. A push under the slogan "Late, Long and Few" was successful: China's population growth dropped by half from 1970 to 1976. But it soon leveled off, prompting officials to seek more drastic measures. In 1979 they introduced a policy requiring couples from China's ethnic Han majority to have only one child (the law has largely exempted ethnic minorities). It has remained virtually the same ever since.
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Where?
China is located in Southeast Asia along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean. It's the world's third largest country, after Russia and Canada. With an area of 9.6 million square kilometers and a coastline of 18,000 kilometers.
Why?
The one child policy was set up to ensure that China's growing population would stop increasing. The one-child policy relies on different things. Depending on where they live, couples can be fined thousands of dollars for having a supernumerary child without a permit, and reports of forced abortions or sterilization are common. The law also offers longer maternity leave and other benefits to couples that delay childbearing. Those who volunteer to have only one child are awarded a "Certificate of Honor for Single-Child Parents." Since 1979, the law has prevented some 250 million births, saving China from a population explosion the nation would have difficulty accommodating.
How?
China's population is ageing. By 2050 more than a quarter of the population will be over 65 years old and younger generations face an unprecedented burden of care.Chinese women are having fewer children, but having a smaller generation follow a boom generation - and longer life expectancies - means that by 2050, it is expected that for every 100 people aged 20-64, there will be 45 people aged over 65, compared with about 15 today.
One child policy success?
The Chinese government believes the one-child policy curtailed population growth, and that it prevented 400 million extra births.
China's fertility rate - the average number of children a woman has in their lifetime - is 1.6, which is lower than the rate in the UK and the US.
Propaganda posters have had a huge impact on the one child policy. Advertisments showing people's possible prizes for only having one child is one of the main factors that helped reduce population growth. These posters showed people the positive aspects of only having one child, rather than the negative.
Advantages of the One Child Policy:
- less babies being produced means that less money will need to be spent on new families, accomodations, schoolings and more...
- too many babies means a growing population, china is already extreamly populated and it is difficult to provide enough goods for everybody
- better standards of livig for fewer people
- better medications, educations, accomodations and more...
- saving money
- less crouded country (socially more pleasing)
- environmentally better (less people using less petrol for transport in cars, less trafic and more...)
Disadvantages of the One Child Policy:
- not enough babies being produced which means that there is an ageing population
- there aren't enough young people to take care of the old
- money is being spent on old people's homes, hospitals, nurses, doctors and more...
- Couples aren't able to have the amount of children they really want.