Chinas One-Child Policy: Birth Control and Chinese Demographics - Term Paper Example

Running Head: CHINA'S ONE CHILD POLICY China's One-Child Policy: Birth Control and Chinese Demographics By of China's One-Child Policy has been effective in reducing the Chinese population, however, the negative ramifications outweigh the short-term benefits experienced. Due to an over burgeoning population that had been negatively affecting the country for decades, China implemented a single-child policy in 1979, which required each family to limit their child bearing to one, or face governmental sanctions and penalties (Evans, 2005). The government felt this was a necessity to increase economic and social development, and improve Chinese quality of life and education. The policy was effective in reducing the overall population growth, however, this action was not without negative ramifications. In 2006, China had a population of over 1.3 billion people, and is predicted to grow to just over 1.4 billion by the year 2050 ("2006 World", 2006). This makes China the most populous country in the world today. However, because of implemented measures to reduce its rate of population growth, in 2050, it is projected to be the second most populated country just behind India ("2006 World", 2006). In the 1960s and 1970s, when the population seemed to be increasing out of control, the use of contraceptives began to be promoted vigorously, which gradually resulted in a drop in fertility rates in China (Kent & Haub, 2005). The most popular contraceptive method used continued to be female sterilization and intrauterine devices (IUDs), followed by oral contraceptives (Kend & Haub, 2005). This was successful in lowering fertility rates, however, the Chinese government still believed a more rigid policy must be implemented to successfully contain the population rate. The history of China's population control has fluctuated between encouraging births at certain times in its history, while actively prohibiting births at another (Love, 2005). In 1949, the same year the People's Republic of China (PRC) was created, the regime encouraged births to "increase the rate of socioeconomic development and to strengthen the county" (Love, 2005, p. 143). In fact, the leader of the Chinese Revolution, Mao Zedong, publicly announced that a large population would be a very good thing for China because out of all the things in existence in the world, "people are the most precious (Zedong, as cited by Love, 2005, p. 143). The population grew so fast during that time, that only a few years later, policy changes were implemented. In 1954, birth control was discussed openly by the PRC, however, only four years later in 1958, Mao returned to promoting births once again, calling for three years of "intense efforts" to build the Chinese population (Love, 2005, p. 144). As a result, famine was widespread, and birth control was once again the norm---this time with the intrauterine device (IUD) being introduced for women and men were encouraged to use birth control, such as condoms, as well. In the 1950s and early 1960s China attempted to set the groundwork for birth control campaigns to manage the budding fertility rate, and in the 1970s became even more aggressive with a policy that had a mantra of "later, longer, fewer", which in other words said to citizens, "wait longer to have fewer children" (Evans, 2005, p. 21). The 800 million Chinese citizens living in outlying villages are very poor compared to their city dwelling counterparts (Kent & Haub, 2005). As a result, China restricts migration within the country itself, therefore, it is extremely difficult for rural migrants to find housing or obtain government services and education within the city or outside areas in which they are registered (Martin & Widgren, 2002). Things were even worse in the 1970s and prior, which led the government to believe in the necessity of the single-child policy. In 1977, the government restricted families to having two (2) children, and finally in 1979 the post-Mao government "enforced the reduction of fertility rates to a national average of 1.7" (Evans, 2005, p. 21). Eventually, in 1979, the One-Child Policy was implemented in China because of the population continuing to grow out of control despite the government programs that had come decades before. The government became alarmed with predictions that China's population was bordering on, and soon would exceed, 1.2 billion (Love, 2005). Upon implementation, in essence, the government took away parental control and took over the future of children and their families by placing a restriction on migration (Ikels, 2004). A State Family Planning Commission circular was distributed on December 6, 1982, to inform the public of family planning methods that had been put in place. The Commission announced, "'propaganda month would require sterilization of one partner of every couple that had two or more children and the prompt abortion of all unauthorized pregnancies'" (Love, 2005, p. 144). The result was 20.8 million sterilizations performed in 1983---almost eighty percent being on the female population of China (Love, 2005). In 2000 and 2001, the Chinese government continued to evolve the One-Child Policy with improved maternal and child health care. In 2002, The Population and Family Planning Law of the People's Republic of China went into effect (Love, 2005). This law included social compensation fees for those in compliance with the law and the fertility restrictions it continued to maintain. The global community has not agreed with China's contraception and One-Child Policy, which has been viewed as coercive and a violation of human rights according to most international standards. This is because of the very stiff penalties China has implemented against those who violate the policy, forced sterilizations of predominantly women, and mandatory abortions---all government sanctioned activities (Kent & Haub, 2005). Although these programs may not have been the optimum way of handling the out of control birthrate, however, the Chinese government seemed to believe there was no other choice in the matter, and needed to take control of the culture and its practices of family planning. Furthermore, in the Chinese culture, families traditionally prefer to have male rather than female children since the male is still the breadwinner and the female still embodies the role of the homemaker. This means that males generally take care of their parents when they become aged and infirm. As a result, the one-child policy has led to "sex-selective abortions and the abandonment of female babies on such a scale that there is now an imbalance between girls and boys" (Kent & Haub, 2005, p. 20). This despite the fact that when the One-Child Policy was implemented in 1979, official rhetoric of the government proclaimed, "daughters were just as good as sons" (Ikels, 2004, p. 325). Obviously, the public did not buy into government propaganda and decided if only one child could be born within the family, that child would be a boy. Therefore, stories from inside China describe baby girls being abandoned and/or given to orphanages and rural women sold into marriage in areas of China where women are scarce, sometimes thousands of miles away (Evans, 2005). This was necessitated by the fact that sex ratios became distorted with ratios at 130 boys for every 100 girls, and by 2020, it is estimated there may be 30 to 40 million men unable to find wives (Evans, 2005). The heavy-handed One-Child Policy has resulted, therefore, in unintended demographic and cultural results, even though the population has lessened, as was the goal of the program (Levin, 2001). Although China's large population meant great sources of cheap labor and a huge domestic stock of goods, it also presented "a tremendous obstacle to China's economic expansion" as the country was attempting to become a modern, affluent society (Jianyue, 2005, p. 122). Furthermore, until the Chinese population was somewhat 'under control', famine and the problem of feeding every Chinese citizen was a daily challenge for the government (Jianyue, 2006). Furthermore, the overpopulation of the country was putting stress and strains on the economy, quality of education, and an effective policy needed to be implemented before China became another densely populated third-world country unable to sustain its citizens successfully. Today, the emphasis appears to be on being self-reliant, responsible, and ethical, while enjoying a new prosperity and wealth due to the less densely populated China (Won, 2004). With reduced fertility, the Chinese government became economically wealthy and invested their extra finances in better education, health, and other policies that reinforced China's economic growth (Kent & Haub, 2005). This resulted in making China one of the fastest growing economies in the entire world. Further, women have gained more autonomy and authority due to the policy, and are less controlled by their families, as they once had been (Evans, 2005). However, the negative aspect of reduced births could in actuality eventually threaten China's economic boom, since the population of China is aging and birth rates are low. This is because there will be a scarcity of young people to take care of their elderly relatives and/or to be gainfully employed, making for a strong economy (Kent & Haub, 2005). This was demonstrated in a recent study indicating that in 1987. 86.5 percent of elderly care came exclusively from a co-resident child as compared to 48.1 percent in 1998 (Ikels, 2004). This calls for a revamping of the current Chinese social security system or pension system due to the rapidly aging population. Although the one-child policy significantly improve living standards in China, it made the country's aging problem more serious than that of other countries. "According to the World Bank (1994), China's aging population will reach a peak by 2030. There will be 0.3 billion people over 60, which will account for 22 percent of the population. Consequently, China faces a monumental challenge to support its aging population, a challenge the old pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) system cannot meet" (Li & Li, 2003, p. 281). China's One-Child Policy has undoubtedly transformed the face of the Chinese family tremendously, affecting ideologies and familial relationships, which has not been immune to criticism from the West (Evans, 2005). In fact, the United States has been extremely critical of China's One-Child Policy claiming it has resulted in "coerced abortions and forced sterilizations..." and therefore has pulled financial funds from the United Nations Family Population Fund (UNFPA), "which supports the family planning endeavors of the Chinese government" (Love, 2005, p. 142). Although the United States is making a bold statement about the freedoms of Chinese citizens regarding human rights and the right to choose, by cutting funding, this is also detrimental to those Chinese families that need assistance and are unable to receive it due to this punitive action. China's implementation of various programs over the years to contain fertility was needed to quell the enormous population growth that had occurred within its borders. Overall, the One-Child Policy appears to be affective, however, until the culture has a dramatic change in values, and sees males and females as equal, there will continue to be negative ramifications that come along with any birth control policy. However, what also must be considered are human rights violations mandated by the Chinese government under the guise of the One-Child Policy, such as forced abortions, forced sterilization of mainly the female population, and the unspoken support of the government encouraging parents to abandon or even kill first born babies if these infants were female. Although some sort of policy was needed in China to reduce the birthrate and produce a better economy and superior living conditions for the citizens of China, this could also be accomplished in a much more humane manner. Nevertheless, the One-Child Policy has accomplished the goal of reducing the population growth rate and only needs to be less coercive and more reward based, which will allow the world community to respect the positive outcomes due to China's efforts. This would include mandatory education sessions that all Chinese citizens must attend prior to starting a family, which would teach, family planning, various birth control methods, and benefits to the public of continuing to value small families to benefit the country and the future of Chinese children. Furthermore, the value of women must be understood to prevent the abandonment or killing of baby girls, and one can only hope that this is currently changing, but will of course take time. This is a much more ethically viable solution as both implementing birth control and educational programs, along with offering rewards to families who make the decision to have only one child, is much more conducive to compliance than tyrannical, communist methods of implementation. In so doing, citizens will have more freedom within their family structures and will then voluntary agree to participate in the One-Child Policy realizing it will benefit the entire country of China by reducing population growth, which will ease the stress on the environment and make China a much more pleasant place to live. References 2006 World Population Data Sheet. (2006). PopulationReference Bureau, 1-12. Evans, Harriet (2005). The Litte Emperor Grows Selfish: The One-Child Policy Was to Benefit the Nation, but It Has Also Spawned Uncivil Individualism. New Statesman, 134(4719-20), 21. Ikels, Charlotte (2004). The Impact of Housing Policy on China's Urban Elderly. 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