Impact of One Child Policy - Research Paper Example

? Impact of one child policy Lecturer Impact of one child policy One child policy, also referred to as family planning policy, is a policy of population control in the Republic of China, which restricts couples to one child in urban areas and allowing, in cases of ethnic minorities, twins, rural couples, additional children (Shen & Huang, 2005). This paper seeks to discuss impacts of China's one child policy, especially on gender imbalance and on the social pressure of the only child. The people of China have since admitted that there has been a reduction in the growth of population, however, gender imbalance has resulted heavily from all corners of the nation. Majority of couples prefer male children for reasons of family property inheritance. This has seen the rise of premature abortions for female fetus. Families prefer male children and therefore have seen a decline on female children as every family want to have a male child (Greenhalgh, 2008). The one child policy has since received criticisms from various scholars and humanitarians. Some of the critics are discussed in this paper. Family is the most complex and important institution in the society. It plays an important role to socialization in children; it helps develop the child’s intellect and personality. The People’s Republic of China found it necessary to maintain the country’s population as it is rapidly increasing, so it implemented the one child policy (OCP). Since the OCP was enforced over two decades ago, over 400 million births have been supposedly stopped and recent statistics state that over 90 percent of all urban children and over 60 percent of rural children have no siblings. Although the OCP has been reviewed in the past and showed success rates, its future implications are threatening to the social aspect of the country. Such implications create a huge gender imbalance in the country, which eventually leads to threatening social issues such as prostitution. Throughout the years, the drawbacks of the OCP have become more apparent. Even though the one child policy is seen as beneficial globally, it causes social impacts such as gender imbalance, which often leads to threatening social issues (Morelle, 2013). One and only child in a family result into lack of social skills among young adults in China. People born after 1980 have tended to experience short marriages with poor ability to work in teams. Social pressure amounts on single children due to the tendency to pamper them and not expose them to real work. This has led to social problems since the child is “spoilt” by the parents, and may have very high expectations from their child to excel since it is the only one. This may result into little emperor/Buddha syndrome. The social pressure from one child policy has impacted the rate at which children are abandoned by parents, and the number of children living in orphanages sponsored by the state. In late 1980s and very early 1990s, high rates of mortality and poor care in some of the institutions of the state generated an intense pressure internationally for reform (Richard, 2012). China’s population is currently over 1.3 billion and has been rapidly increasing (CIA). The one child policy is a law that has been initiated in order to help curb the population growth rate. Since the 1950s, China has been promoting the use of birth control and family planning. The OCP was implemented mostly in urban areas with the exception of ethnic groups in rural areas. Methods were enforced such as making contraceptive methods available as well as forced abortions and sterilizations. This resulted into a decline in China’s fertility rate and birth rate since the 1990s, limiting the families with one or two children. Parents also over indulge in the child resulting into high tendency towards cooperation and communication skills among the children due to lack of siblings. Children are also over indulged, have no adaptive capabilities, and lack self and social discipline. Other negative effects include: gender imbalance, and growing aging population which has climbed to over 8.5% (Morelle, 2010). The most notable consequence of the OCP, which went beyond the goal reducing the country’s population, is the sex ratio has leaned towards males (Yang, 2004). For example, Sophie, a Chinese freshman at a university who is a product of the OCP, stated that male children are most preferred as first born culturally especially in rural areas. This is because such children are expected to inherit family property, and are considered responsible for taking care of the elderly. The desire to have a female child became highly undesirable when most families were limited to having one child. This increased the rate of abortions of the female fetus. According to Sophie, this is indeed disobeying humanity. Thousands of girls have been abandoned or placed in orphanages and even infanticide of young girls. The gap has widened over time and this resulted into fewer girls for marriage (Nie, 2009). Another illustration is with Hassan Al-Khater is residing currently in China and works for an embassy. Hassan noticed that the primary threatening concern towards the social fabric of the country is the challenge of gender imbalance. He also expressed his concern about the safety of women in the country. Hassan is also convinced that the bias against females in social, economic and cultural fields is still the major cause of gender imbalance. From a relatively normal sex ratio, the male surplus has been progressively growing and is now almost 120 boys for each 100 girls. This is such a huge gap between both genders because a method such as abortion and prenatal sex selection was hugely supported in the 1980s; right after when the OCP was introduced. Many families and women wanted their first born to be a male for cultural reasons. This hugely impacted the sex ratio. The abortion of female fetuses and infanticide was supported by the spread of cheap portable ultra sound scanners in back alleys and back street hospitals. "Prenatal sex selection was probably the primary cause, if not the sole cause, for the continuous rise of the sex ratio at birth," said population expert Prof. Chu Junhong (Economist online, 2012). In 2002 a survey was conducted in a central China village, and the results showed that over 300 out of 820 women had abortions. A report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1999 stated that more than 70 percent of abortions were female fetuses. It is difficult to find exact information because most of the families avoid registering abortions in order to make it easier from them to have a second child. This growing imbalance means that forced prostitution has become uncontrolled in some part of the countries. Many girls have been missing due to their abandonment. In summary, China families have focused on the one child policy and have seen a significant rise in gender imbalance. Couples have shown preference for male children leading to diminishing number of females in the country. As mentioned earlier, the policy has been lifted in some areas allowing a second child without any consequences on special cases. Parents also over indulge in the one child leading to high tendency towards cooperation and communication skills among the children due to lack of siblings. Such children are also over indulged and lack self and social discipline, as well as adaptive capabilities (Jacquelyn, 1989). Many observations have been made by different people on the gender imbalance, and growing aging population which has climbed to over 8.5%, due to the one child policy. Although the imbalance of the sex ratio has become more and more apparent over the years, the government has made some recent changes. As demonstrated by Sophie, there was a recent change in the policy particularly in the urban areas and cities, which are that both partners come from being the only child in their family; they may have a second child. Sophie also believes that the policy would not be abolished in the short term. She believes that the government is trying to improve a situation. In rural areas, Sophie asserted that there is a policy that states that if your child is a female, then such family is allowed to have a second child without paying any fees. Sophie also believes that this certain policy was adapted because most sections in the rural areas, majority of people want male children because of cultural reasons. Sophie offered some information regarding the consequences of having a second child to a family if such a family is or one of the partners is working for the government; which include having to pay a large fee, or losing their jobs most probably (Pletcher, 2013). References Economist online. (2012). Consequences of the one-child policy: Perils of motherhood The Economist. The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/06/consequences-one-child-policy Greenhalgh, Susan, (2008). Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China, California: University of California Press Jacquelyn, D. (1989), Like a Family: the making of a Southern cotton mill world, London: Norton & Co Inc Morelle, R. (2010). China's one-child policy impact analysed .BBC - Homepage. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20976432 Morelle, R. (2013). China's one-child policy impact analyzed .BBC - Homepage. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20976432 Nie, W. (2009). China's one-child policy - success or failure?.BBC. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11404623 Pletcher, K. (2013). one-child policy.  In Encyclop?dia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1710568/one-child-policy Richard, H.K. (2012). China Unbalanced: for the exclusive use of N. Chung. Harvard: Harvard University Press. Shen, H., Liu, J., & Huang, Y. 2005. Research on China Population. Yu-Da: Institute of Technology Yang, M. (2004). Behavior of Female University Students. Taichung: Taichung Normal college. Read More