What Are The Positive And Negative Effects Of China's One Child Policy

The Chinese government One Child Policy had its positive and negative effects in the country’s political, social, and economical scene. China has been the most populated country for over half a century now; its demographics have changed through the years to adopt new ways to provide work, homes, needs, and food. Most importantly an environment that makes it possible for its citizens to live in prosperity with an opportunity to embrace themselves as the most educated work force that the world has seen. Its rich history is remarked with revolutions, wars, epidemics, and distinct social regimes that have sculpt its present success as a continuous developing nation. When the Communist Party proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China
in 1949, an encouragement for birth control in families was eloquent, considering that the nation was underdeveloped and did not held the amount of resources needed to provide well-being for its citizens. It can be seen from the above analysis that the purpose of the law, “was and still is to make sure that population growth does not outpace economic development and to ease environmental and natural resource challenges and imbalances caused by a rapidly expanding population”(footnoteinvestopedia). Interestingly, the physique of the policy takes several shapes. As a whole, in entitles disagreement and containment of liberty for the people of China. To be able to understand the negative and positive aspects of the policy, it is important to remark that policies are sustained with incentives and disincentives towards the social group that is intended to affect. The Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced the One-Child Policy in 1979; the government was worried that the population growth would reach a point in which if unemployment and a lack of education could threat China’s economical flow. The policy declared that the biggest ethnic group in China, which is called Han, could only have one child.
The exception of the policy was if both parents were only children, or if the parents lived in a rural area, or belonged to a small ethnic minority. In this manner, the government “Incentives or rewards for families who adhere to the one-child policy include better employment opportunities, higher wages and government assistance. Those who don’t are subject to fines, and access to government assistance and employment opportunities can become difficult”(investopedia). In The Abandoned Child, a baby girl child was abandoned by its parents and rescued by the narrator. The author states, “Every baby is unique. It cannot be replaced. Will the bloodstained hands never be washed clean? Will the soul wracked with guilt never be free?” (mo
yan).
The one-child policy has produced repercussions long way off the goal of reducing population growth. The deep sadness and confusion in Mo Yan’s writing comes from the inclination of gender preference that the law produced. The story shows how Chinese families prefer a boy, because it is thought that the boy will provide economic support to his parents when they become old. Also, it will carry out the name of the family, honoring his parents and therefore starting a legacy. Subsequently, another of the negative affects that the policy has is the proportion of elderly people, as a result of the diminishing members in a family. This is a huge concern for the future of the country, since the elderly and the further generations are going to depend on the younger generation for support. Undoubtedly, another consequence is the unreported children from authorities after the first child is born. These children, are not only undocumented, but also they lack an opportunity to obtain an education or a job. Estimates have shown that many Chinese families follow this protocol, creating an uncertainty in its population, and government awareness. Despite these effects, the worst effects of the policy are abortion and infanticide rates. Many children are killed or abandoned after they are born, which are not a natural way to control population. Therefore, abortion rates are also tremendously high because technology can indicate which gender will the future child have, and most Chinese families do not prefer girls. Accordingly to the government psychological department, the expectations on the only child generate a big pressure for the children, which in their culture, have to take care of their parents when they are no longer available to take care of themselves. The suicide rate in China is much higher than most other countries for the responsibility on the shoulders that these children have.
Given the negative effects of the one-child policy, the current high profile debate with regard to allowing Chinese families to have only one child, it is quite surprising that the policy has positive effects.
The most important positive result of the policy and main goal is to ease the over population problems. The food, government, educational, and housing resources are limited. If this policy would not be implemented more than 30 years ago, an estimation of 400 million births would not be avoided. The problem of living space and available jobs were also going to be scarcer. The policy has helped to slowly decline the poverty rates, therefore creating better living conditions for its people. Surprisingly, the policy is widely accepted by the Chinese people. It is understandable that it carries many positive effects in the living conditions and prosperity of its citizens, but it is not accepted that such effects create gender inequality, abortion, and all the negative effects mentioned above. I am sure that other regulations can be done to face the developing challenges that China has as a
country.