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One Child Policy
One Child Policy
The one child policy was put in place to address the problem of overpopulation in China. The resources of the country would not have been able to support its growing population.
What are the disincentives put in place for families with more children?
Families that already have one child but chose to have another are often pressured into abortion of the second child. They might threaten them with unemployment, reduced wages and take away bonuses. There is also a Family planning fine put in place wherein the parents have to pay a percentage of their disposable income of the year of the birth of their second child. The second child will not receive the free healthcare and education which becomes an extra cost for the parents. The women pregnant with the second child, if it has not been approved by the government can be forced to abort it.
Impacts of the Policy what are the effects it has on the people?
It has different effects on the different groups of people in the country. It affects mainly the people who live in the urban areas of China. Over 90% of the population was allowed to have two children if their first child was handicapped, if the first child died, if the first child was a girl (especially in rural areas due to agriculture) or if they paid a fine or bribed officials. Also if two only children married they were allowed to have 2 children. In the rural areas of China the male child is much more favored than a female one. This leads to female children being abandoned at birth which also leads to a higher number of
female orphans. The male child would be able to care for the family better than the female child in agriculture based society. This has also lead to an unbalance of the ration between men and women. There are fewer women than men which meant many men cannot find a wife easily if they want to start a family. The families also have only one child which means that they are spoilt. The children are then unable to work and adapt later on in life in different situations.