China's Anti-natalist Policy
One-Child Policy
Families who do not follow it are penalized
Less governmental assistance
Loss of employment
Fines
Families who follow it are rewarded
Preferential governmental treatment
Better education
Higher wages
Families are only permitted to have one child
Many exceptions to this:
Only-child parents
Birth defects in child
Ethnic minorities
Rural families
Created in 1978 by Chinese
leader Deng Xiaoping
Successes
The population growth has slowed from 2.61% to 0.65%
Chinese government has stated the policy has prevented 400 million births
Experts argue that fertility rate is anywhere between 1.5-1.8 (below replacement level)
Was at 2.7 in 1978
Current/Future Implications
There may be a shortage of workers
China now plans to change one-child policy to two-child policy
The population is still growing at this point
Estimated peak population of 1.46 billion people by 2030
There is a very large ageing population
People will face the 4-2-1 phenomenon in the future
An only child must take care of 4 grandparents and two parents
Males may have difficulties finding mates due to sex ratio
By 2050, their population growth rate will be -0.5%
Situation Before Policy
It was not uncommon to see families with 4 or 5 children
Chairman Mao viewed a fast-growing population as a productive force necessary for China to become a great power
China therefore was even pro-natalist in the past
His successor, Deng Xiaoping, disagreed
Population of about
972 million in 1978
Problems
Impedes on the human right of freedom of choice
Critics argue that the drop in fertility rate was not only due to one-child policy
The fertility rate was 5.8 in 1970
The drop to 2.7 was due to China encouraging:
Fewer children
Longer interval between children
Later marriages
Sex ratio of 113 boys to 100 girls
May be due to sex-selective:
Infanticide
Abandonment
Neglect
Abortion
