China s One Child Policy: The History and the Effects of it.

Transcription

1 China s One Child Policy: The History and the Effects of it. Ian Reilly Research Assignment #5/ Roots Final Project Title: China s One Child Policy: The History and the Effects of it. Recently in October 2015 China ended their one-child policy permitting families to have two children. 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). [1] This policy was established to control China s population The one-child policy relies on a mix of sticks and carrots. 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. [1] The Chinese government could not foresee the numerous social problems as a result of this policy. Due to Chinese tradition that favors males over females, the population now has a huge gender imbalance. In addition, the population has too few workers. In 2007 there were six adults of working age for every retiree, but by 2040 that ratio is expected to drop to 2 to 1. 1 / 5

2 Figure 1: Modern Chinese propaganda enforcing their one child policy. Thesis Statement: Since China became communist they have been using different types of policies to control their population. Between 1957 and 1979 the Chinese government adopted various population control policies that became more extreme over time. In 1957 the Chinese Government legalized abortion, sterilization and made contraceptives widely available to general population. Over time they were using economic and ideological pressures to force their people to practice. In 1966 parents were penalized by local officials if they had more than three children. By 1979 china had adopted a one-child policy per couple. [2] With the start of Communist China, the Chinese government began to realize they needed to control their population. By 1957 the Chinese government began to legalize abortion and sterilization to keep the population of more than 600,000,000 people within bounds. [3] The government realized that in order to lift the country out of poverty they would need to reduce the 2 / 5

3 rate of population growth. At that time the Chinese population was increasing an average of 15 million people per year. The government encouraged family planning, birth control and made contraceptives more available to the people. At this point all birth control was voluntary. This London Times newspaper article was intended for the Western World. In the 1950 s abortion, birth control, and sterilization were not commonly acceptable in the world. This was a fairly radical shift in government policy. Figure 2: More Chinese propaganda for birth control product and how to use them. Paragraph 3: During the first 25 years of China s one child policy it has a concerning impact a generation affected by it. As a result, Chinese children had a several health and psychological issues. Social indicators show that only children a negative consequence in that children who have brother and sisters. Due to the decrease of infertility in women. In addition, the sex ratio of birth was more propionate in men than in women. Also china has started an aging of the population. [4] How Does China bounce back from the effect of the one-child policy? (5) In October 2015, China decided to overturn its decades-old one-child policy and allow couples 3 / 5

4 across the country to have two children. [5] This change very expected to happen worldwide. As a result, to overturn the one-child policy researchers explored the potential effect in a new study. After a year after the decision, the Chinese government wanted a population increase which take more than 20 years away. The study predicts the updated policy will bring a peak in population size of 1.45 billion people in To that compared with 1.4 billion in 2023 if the one-child policy had stayed in place. [5] Figure 3: A chart of third world counties and the huge change of population over this century. As the other third world countries increase whereas if China One Child Policy still enforced the population would decrease. Conclusion: Restate and rewording the thesis with the information. Citations [1] Laura Fitzpatrick, A Brief History of China's One-Child Policy, TIME, July 27, 2009, (accessed October 5, 2016). 4 / 5

5 Powered by TCPDF ( Fall Matthew Unangst [2] Peking Urges Birth Curbs; Big Families Are Penalized: CHINA PUTS STRESS ON BIRTH CONTROL By SEYMOUR TOPPING Special to The New York Times New York Times (1923-Current file); Apr 27, 1966; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times [3] "Controlling China's Population." Times [London, England] 8 Mar. 1957: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 5 Oct prodid=ttda&usergroupname=pull21986&tabid=t003&docpage=article&searchtype=advanced SearchForm&docId=CS &type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 [4] F. Festini, M. M de Martino, Twenty-Five Years of the One Child Family Policy in China Vol. 58, Issue. 5 (May,2004) pp [5] Meera Senthilingan, how quickly can China come back from one-child policy? (CNN 2016) Geographic focus: China, The People's Republic of China (PRC) Search terms: (China OR Chinese), Chin*, One Child Policy, Birth Control. Primary Source Database: The Times of London. Date Limiter: late 1970s Historical Research Questions: Why does controlling China s birth rate have so much controversy? Why are the Chinese favoring males over females? Illustrations Figure 1. Propaganda, Carry Out Family Planning Implement the Basic National Policy, 1986, / Figure 2. Propaganda, Birth control, 1954, %201957%20COLOR/China%201957%20Birth%20Control%20Billboards/China_1957_BirthContro l_2%20copy.jpg Figure 3. Growth, Fastest Growth Population: Countries driving global population, bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/8f8b/production/_ _un_pop_countries_624.png 5 / 5