Transcript CHINA’S ONE CHILD POLICY

CHINA’S ONE
CHILD POLICY
An introduction to the
implementation of China’s
one child policy
Background
During its existence (from 1949) the
Peoples Republic of China blew hot and
cold about birth control
 During this time the population nearly
doubled and reached the 1 billion mark
 During the 1960s the growth rate
averaged at 2.4% per year

Quotes
“If I have one child it will be raised better.
It will have more opportunities. And my
career is the most important thing. I
really want to excel at it”
Lu Zhufeng a 20 year old medical student
Quotes
“Vigilantes abduct pregnant women on
the streets and haul them off,
sometimes handcuffed or trussed, to
abortion clinics (Some) aborted babies
cry when they are born”
Steve Mosher author of ‘Broken Earth’
Introduction
The One Child Policy was introduced in
1979
 Its aim was to reduce the rate of
population growth
 It works by persuades couples to not
have more than one child through use
of penalties

The Policy
Advocates delayed marriage and
delayed child bearing
 Advocating fewer and healthier babies
 Advocating one child per couple

Exceptions
Ethnic minorities are formally excluded from
the policy
 If both parents are only children they are
allowed to have more than one child provided
the children are spaced more than 4 years
 Families who have children with mental or
physical disabilities are sometimes allowed to
have another child

The Benefits
Preferential treatment in education
 Healthcare
 Housing
 Wages


Couples with unauthorised children are
subjected to a range of economic, social
and political sanctions
Thoughts
Education is very expensive
 Resources concentrated on one child
 Women are able to concentrate on
careers
 Increased role for women in the
workplace

Thoughts
Chinese families overwhelming prefer
male children to female children
 Increase in female infanticide
 Abortions forced on women who are
visibly pregnant with their second child
 Mass sterilisations in rural areas

Horror Stories
“Chinese region ‘must conduct 20,000
abortions’
Headline Daily Telegraph 05/08/2001
One Child Policy - Backlash
Sex selective abortion
 High divorce rate involving women
whose one child turns out to be a girl
(however the law has changed to
prevent this resulting in men beating
their wives until they divorce them on
grounds of assault)
 Little Emperor Syndrome

Success or Failure?

Rural areas more reluctant, reasons for
this include:
The continuing need for security in old age
 The abandonment of the cooperative
farming system meaning child labour is
important
 The perception that girls are no good in
ether respect because they marry and
leave home

Success or failure continued
So far the policy has reduced China’s
population by 250 million
 Critics say that the ratio of Chinese
males to Chinese females 100 to 117

The Future
Recent speculation about the future of
the policy
 A Chinese official has been quoted as
saying that the policy was intended for
one generation only
