China's Population Problems

In 1998 it was estimated that China’s tremendous population of 1.295 billion people made up 20% of the world’s population, being the world’s most populous country during that time and still remains most populous today. Although there are many known benefits from a growing and large population such as technological advancement and increased labour, it also carries with it numerous adverse effects. A prime example of how large populations may cause problems is through China. China being the largest populated country today, it faces many problems in relation to the environment, unemployment and poverty, and life expectancy. China’s many attempts to combat their population problem has been successful to some extent but it has also brought along with it new complications which still remain a relevant and controversial issue to this day.
It is blatantly obvious that a large population or overpopulation causes environmental problems; China suffers many environmental problems due to its massive population. With the number of individuals residing in China, the amount of waste produced by the country is extremely high. China contributed for more than 20% of CO2 emissions each year, amounting up to 7 billion metric tonnes of CO2 annually.
Overpopulation leads to many negative issues within a country. Due to its large population China has an issue with poor health of individuals and poor sustainability. The ever increasing population far outweighs that of medical and healthcare services available to the public. Lack of viable employment opportunities also arose as an issue, with too many employees and too little employers.
In addition, the issue of overpopulation also drastically affects the education and schooling of citizens. China has a population of over 1.3 billion individuals, yet there are only around thirty thousand undergraduate and graduate spots at the country’s elite learning institution available for enrolment. Competition is fierce and majority of students miss out on obtaining an education as a result of the colossally large population and thus, lack of educational institutions. These were given by the government as reasons for wanting to reduce population and slow down the growth of the rapidly expanding Chinese population.
To aid in reduction of its ever- growing population and hopefully reduce the effects on overpopulation, China implemented the One Child Policy. This policy was first established by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 as a counter measure to the ever growing population of China and according to Zhang Weiqing, minister in charge of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, the policy has prevented 400 million births. The policy firmly restricts urban couples to having only one child and fines are issued if couples give birth to more children, with very few exceptions. Cruel and inhumane forced abortions were also another way the policy was enforced by local family planning officials. This policy however, did not seem to apply to the rich in China, leading to statements condemning Chinese law, with its favouring of the rich and wealthy. This is another one of the cases exemplifying the corruption inherent in the Chinese law.
Since implementing the One Child Policy, China has suffered countless repercussions such as an ageing population. This means that due to low fertility rates and low mortality rates the population of china consists more of older aged people and less child bearing women and thus the population of young people in China become minimal. To emphasize the gravity of China’s ageing population, it is estimated that the chance a Chinese man will live longer than his child is 6% and 17% for women. As a result of this there are less people available for labour and the workforce, which severely hinders and staggers the development of the country. According to research, exports of goods and services constitute 39.7% of China’s GDP; being vital in the global market and relying on global trading, a decline in a young and ready labour force will greatly hurt China’s economic development.
The One Child Policy has largely reduced the number of young individuals in China and thus leaving a greater number of elders who are above the age of 60. Consequently from an ageing population, there will be an increase in mortality rate and this will lead to China’s mortality rate to exceeding its birth rate. China will not be able to sustain its population and gradually decline in population. As the Once Child Policy stays firmly in place more of China’s population will die while each couple is only allowed 1 child. A lack of young people in the population has had a costly effect on the economy of China, young people boost the economy as they generally save money for first houses, college and retirement plans. This gives the banks more money and in turn the country has more money to spend on development and advancement in technology.
A social repercussion of the policy is selective birth and imbalance in the gender ratios in China. Chinese society has suffered from the One Child Policy. Chinese family planning agencies have taken extremes and extravagant actions to enforce this policy. Due to the policy there has been many children placed for adoption and forced abortions. Influenced by Chinese Tradition, couples hope to give birth to males; in doing so the males will be able to support their parents as workers but also carry on the family name. In this quest for a male child, parents often give up their child for adoption, willingly have an abortion or have one forced upon them by a family planning agency as the policy states that couples may only have one child.
Although there were efforts to reduce the population in china, these efforts stunted population growth and new problems arose for China. Other effects that the One Child Policy has had on China are the fertility rate and population growth. China’s Total Fertility Rate has fallen from 2.63 children born per woman on average in 1980 to 1.55 as of 2011; this is due to the introduction of the One Child Policy. The fertility rate for China has drastically fallen and is comparable to that of a developed country such as Japan which has a fertility rate of 1.39 in 2011. For developed countries their fertility rate is low due to availability of contraceptives, women in the work force, high education and high cost of living but in China’s situation, this low fertility rate is caused by the One Child Policy. By having such a low fertility rate China is below the replacement rate for the population which means that China’s population will begin to decrease.
After standing as the world’s most populated country for many years, China may begin its decrease in population size through the policies and practices enforced by the government and family planning agencies. The solutions to China’s overpopulation problem was successful to some extent but left profound consequences on the society and the future of China. The adverse effects that have come from the one child policy may influence China’s decision to continue the use of this policy in future years and maybe abolish the policy