One child policy, China- Population Control Case Study

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One child policy, China- Management of rapid population

growth

The original policy

·

It was first introduced in 1979

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Must not marry until late 20’s

·

Can only have one child

·

Must be sterilised after the first child, or

abort all future pregnancies

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10% salary increase for only having one child

·

Priority housing, pensions and family benefits

for those with 1 child

Penalties for not following the rules

·

Large fine (that would bankrupt many families)

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10% salary cut

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Have to pay for education and healthcare

·

Second child born abroad would not be allowed to

become citizens of China

Changes in the 1990’s

·

Parents with no brothers/ sisters can have more

than one child- families were worried about their name dying out, also there

needs to be enough young people to look after aging population

·

People living in rural areas can have more than

1 child- they are needed to help on farms etc

·

Ethnic minorities can have more than 1 child, minorities

make up a very small amount of China’s population, so it wouldn’t make a big

difference

·

Couples don’t need permission to have a first

child

·

Following Sichuan earthquake the rules were

relaxed to help the population recover

Benefits of the policy

·

With less time needed to look after kids, women

have been able to concentrate on their careers

·

Repeats of famines like in the 1970’s have not

happened

·

400 million fewer births have occurred since the

policy was enforced

Problems with the policy

·

Still 1 million more births than deaths every 5

weeks

·

Increasing imbalance of men/ women as families

want boys to pass the name on

·

Some women have been forced to have abortions

very late in their pregnancies by ‘granny police’ who monitor young women

·

There has been many young girls killed so that

their families can have a boy

·

Children with no siblings get lots of attention,

and become known as ‘little emperors’

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