Effects of Cancelling the One Child Policy in China - Assignment Example

Effects of cancelling the One Child Policy in China Introduction Population increase has become one of the widely discussed issues across the world, with countries trying to find ways by which they can control their level of population growth to match the resources available. While an increase in population has its own advantages like increased markets for goods and services manufactured, which is good for economic growth and development, these many people become a problem when available resources cannot be utilized by them adequately. In many countries and cities, this increased population without the necessary resources has often led to a scramble for the little available resources, something that later causes many social problems like corruption, theft, prostitution among others. In order to control population, countries have often advocated the use of various family planning methods through agencies and non-governmental organisations. These approaches have yielded insignificant results, because population has continued to increase in many countries. Other countries like China, owing to their giant population, decided to create a policy that would curtail the number of children that any couple can have in the course of their lives. This approach saw the implementation of the one child policy, where every new couple is expected to have only one child in the course of their life. This paper presents an examination of what would happen if the one child policy was to be abolished in the republic of China, focusing on some of the possible effects it would have on the society. China’s population increase According to Denyer (2013), The population demographics of China can be identified by a very large population that comprises of an extremely small youthful population because of the one-child policy that was enacted in order to tame the challenge of population growth. Denyer (2013) says that despite the policy, the population growth rate in the country continuing to rise, hitting the billion mark almost three decades ago. Currently, the country’s population is way above 1.3 billion people, being the largest in the world in reference to the findings of the 2010 census reports (Denyer para 5). In his analysis Denyer (2013), says that in the census report of 2010, it was also found out that approximately 91.51 percent people belonged to Han Chinese while the minority group comprises of 8.49 percent. The country’s population growth is placed at 0.47, making it to rank in the 159th position in the world. The slow rate of growth has been attributed to the success of the one-child policy, which some people argue has been the best medicine to the population growth sickness in the country. The one-child policy The one-child or family planning policy as common in most countries of the west has been used for a long time in China, with the aim of putting the country’s population growth at a considerable and manageable level. However, it should be known that “one-child” as used in the policy itself is often inexact; this is because, it provides special exceptions to certain groups like the ethnic minorities. In 2007, around 37% of the country’s population was subjected to the strictest restriction under the one-child policy; additionally, 53% of the population was given permission to have another child beside the first one only if the first born had been a girl (Denyer para 7-8). The implementation of this policy is mostly done at the provincial level, where fines and levies are imposed on those that defy the policy. However, Lehmann (2015) says that the fines imposed are depended on a number of factors including family income, reasons for having the second born among many others. In China, this policy came into active use in 1980, after having been introduced two years before, in 1978 (Lehmann para 8). The implementation of the policy, besides reducing population was also aimed at alleviating many of the economic, environmental and social problems that were affecting the Chinese Republic. According to Lehmann (2015), it is believed that between 1979 and 2009, the policy managed to avert more than 200 million births that would have had a great impact on the country’s population. According to survey reports, Lehmann (2015) explains that about 76 percent of the people interviewed shown great support to the policy, in as much as it has been blamed for a number of negative impacts like abuse of human right and various negative and undesired social consequences. Abolishing the one-child policy The Chinese government has announced in the recent past it was consideration the option of relaxing its one-child policy, giving people the chance to increase the number of children they can easily manage. While a few Chinese have reported increased enthusiasm levels following this announcement, other families have not welcomed the move, choosing to have one child owing to the economic and many other practical reasons. Another reason relates to the long taught government propaganda that has made them believe that having small families is the best option. Policy experts have warned that at the moment, China should be prepared for a looming crisis in the future (Lehmann para 13). Some of the expected consequences to the one-child policy, for the time it has existed include low rates of fertility, an increasingly aging population and a fast shrinking labor force that will affect the country’s economic growth. Generally, the experts explain that at the moment, the one-child policy is a big problem in itself, which spells serious challenges to the legitimacy an stability of the communist rule in the country that has so far enjoyed population growth and peaceful coexistence for a long time. Effects of this move to new couples To new couples, the banning of the one-child policy may be good news to those that may prefer more than one child. This means that the couples may require to prepare the resources that they think would be necessary in managing more than one child. For those families that had a single child, who may have died for one reason or another, they have a chance to have another child only if they feel they will manage to offer it the life it deserves. For families that already have one child, the news for abolishing the policy means that they can add a second child or more depending on their ability to take care of those children. For such families, having social security in their old age may seem the motivation for increasing the number of children they can have. At present the country is having an increase in the aging population, with few youths that can supplement their energy in their old age. Generally, the policy To the government To the government, the idea to ban the one-child policy, according to Lehmann (2015) is good news because it will help alleviate many social and economic problems in the future. First, it will enable the government to increase the number of its youthful population, which is advantageous for the growth of the economy. The youths, have always been known to be people of great energy and vigor, who, with proper economic planning, they can cause an increase in economic growth and development. Currently, the government is facing a huge challenge in the decades to come, which involves paying the pensions of the rapidly increasing aged population. If the government manages to pay these pensions, then it should be prepared for economic challenges owing to the increased recurrent expenditure on the move. Therefore, Young (2015) says that by banning this policy, there is likely to be an increase in the number of children and youthful population, which would be very advisable for the economy. The youthful population is likely to be a source of cheap and easily available labour in many of the industries that are developing and markets that are fast growing (Young para 15). Moreover, by encouraging a system that increase the number of young people, the fertility rate is also likely to go up; so far, the country’s economic growth is well able to take care of this proposed increase in the number of young people. The many multinationals that are competing to set base in the country are also a good indication that the country can easily manage a rapidly growing young population. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to realize that population growth is very desirable because it offers a wide market for domestic and international investments. Many multinational companies give their expansion preferences to countries whose population is likely to give them opportunities for business growth and development. Therefore, by having a high population, countries are likely to have an increase in economic growth and development, when other factors are kept constant. It is important that countries ensure that as they create policies that can ensure their population growth; this is done with a similar increase in the number of resources need for these people to use. When the population in a place exceeds the available resources, then it becomes a problem as opposed to the expected positive impacts. These are the reasons why the Chinese government has once against decided to change its policies population reduction. In China, the one-child policy has simply meant that the country is likely to have more old people in a country that should have a high number of young people. Works Cited Denyer Simon. “‘One is enough’: Chinese families lukewarm over easing of one-child policy.” The Washington post. 25 January 2013. Web. 8 May 2015. < http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/one-is-enough-chinese-families-lukewarm-over-easing-of-one-child-policy/2015/01/22/bdfeff1e-9d7e-11e4-86a3-1b56f64925f6_story.html> Lehmann Richard. Why China Is Finally Abandoning Its One Child Policy. 28 March 2013. Web. 8 May 2015. < http://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2013/03/28/why-china-is-finally-abandoning-its-one-child-policy/> Young Sunny. “China easing one-child policy amid elderly boom.” USA Today. 15 November 2013. Web. 9 May 2015. < http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/15/china-one-child-policy/3570593/> Read More