Chinese One Child Policy

The one child policy of China has been a topic of discussion among many sociologists and economists for years and has been a very controversial topic since it was first introduced. The policy was first introduced in the year of 1980 and was phased out in 2015. Many people believe this was a good thing and perhaps others would disagree. In this research essay, the one child policy will be discussed.

China has been a very controlling country for many years, they have been known to have many communism traits in their political and society. The one child policy which was introduced by China in 1980 shows the characteristic and clear illustration of how it has a vast power on its people and shows how its state power is very widespread. Furthermore, the state is in fact ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC) (Retrieved Nov. 14, 2016, from Wikipedia.org/wiki/China).

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The Chinese one child policy only allows couples to have one child unless there are certain circumstances which are determined by the government themselves then they might be exempted. (Retrieved Nov 24, 2016, from www.theguardian.com/world/datablog/2015/oct/29/impact-china-one-child-policy-four-graphs). An example of one of circumstances is families who rely on farming as a source of live or income (Hartmann, B. (1995). Reproductive rights and wrongs: The global politics of population control. Boston, MA: South End Press.). I personally completely disagree with this policy as couples should have the right to conceive as much as they want, at the end of the day it is the way of life. I also disagree with this policy because it causes harm in terms of affecting the normal equality of both sexes in society as there could be a lack of males or females due to this. Also, it causes a lack of the younger generation. Moreover, as much is it people conceiving as many as they want could affect the economy negatively, this one child policy also affected it negatively.

30 years ago, on September 25, 1980, China’s one-child policy was formally introduced. In a letter from the Chinese Communist Party. Until that date, the government had strongly supported spreading the knowledge of birth control. But using it voluntarily was encouraged and not enforcing anything. China later enforced the law by keeping a very accurate track on the birth registers and those who had more than one child were made to adopt it. Moreover, couples who conceived more than one child were also given fines and were penalized on a very large scale. In some places the fine was a set amount whereas in others it’s based on a percentage of the violator’s annual income. (Perry, E. J., & Selden, M. (2000). Chinese society: Change, conflict, and resistance. London: Routledge). People who voluntarily accepted the policy or were exempted from it and still agreed to it were sometimes privileged by being given perks such as free water, electricity, gas or a monthly stipend and other perks.

After approximately 400m births being stopped and the population growth becoming far too slow, the one child policy was no longer enforced after 35 years as the Chinese government started to realise the lack of the younger generation was a side effect of this issue (Retrieved Nov. 14, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539). It was realised that this policy was doing a lot of unpredicted harm to the people. China is now recovering its’ population by removing this policy with hope that these side factors will no longer exist.

Meirong Liu and her family are just one example of the millions of families that were affected by Chinas one child policy. Liu always wondered while growing up why she never had a sister or a brother. This lack of a sibling eventually made Liu feel very lonely at times and had negative side effects on her. Other people Liu knew where also severely affected by this policy, they had conceived a second child and they lost their jobs because of it; she also claims she knows people who had to get an abortion.

To conclude, now that the one policy has been removed it perhaps might be better for China as it is normal to be allowed to conceive as many children as you wish. Hopefully this will sort out the lack of the young generation and cause equality among both sexes. In the years to come I believe China could be back to a proper functional country and have more stability.

References:

1. Nprorg. (2016). NPRorg. Retrieved 10 November, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/2015/10/31/453509914/how-familes-were-impacted-by-chinas-one-child-policy.
2. New Yorker. (2015). The New Yorker. Retrieved 10 November, 2016, from http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-did-the-one-child-policy-change-china-an-interview-with-mei-fong.
3. Economist. (2016). The Economist. Retrieved 10 November, 2016, from http://www.economist.com/news/china/21678006-small-town-offers-glimpse-what-two-child-china-might-look-now-two-child-policy
4. Hartmann, B. (1995). Reproductive Rights and Wrongs: The Global Politics of Population Control. :