4.4 Management Of Natural Increase Flashcards
1
Q
Background to China’s One Child Policy
A
- 1949 - population at 550 million when the communist government took power
- during the 1950s Mao Zeodong promoted rapid population growth - which lead to a famine between 1959 and 1961
- 1970s - first effective birth control campaigns, limiting couples to no more than 2 children
- 1 January 1979 - China’s One child policy
2
Q
What did the policy involve?
A
- incentives: offered cash bonuses, better housing and free medical care if they promised to have a single child
- the child would also benefit from improved welfare and greater educational opportunities
- punishments: blocked promotion at work, 20% pay cut, loss of benefits
3
Q
Was the policy successful?
A
- policy judged to have prevented 400 million births since introduction
- fertility rate fell below ‘replacement rate’ of 2.1 in the 1990s + fluctuated between 1.5 and 1.7 since until 2008 + is 1.28 in 2020
4
Q
Social impacts of policy (births)
A
- human rights abuse - 336 million abortions + 196 million sterilisations, with many done against a woman’s will
- 17,000 women in Bobai County subjected to sterilisation or abortions + there were fines totalling £800,000 for ‘illegal births’
- unregistered children - millions of ‘hidden births’; with these children not being entitled to state benefits + cannot legally get married or have children of their own as adults
5
Q
Social impacts (gender imbalance)
A
- traditional values - preference for sons as they were a source of respect + were able to continue the family name
- sons were also more practical for agricultural families - stronger + can more easily contribute to the family farm
- farmers near the large cities had become prosperous in the 1990s + were therefore prepared to pay the substantial fines to have a larger population
- introduction of ultrasound screening in 1980s made it possible to determine the gender of the baby - led to a rise in sex-selective abortions
- gender imbalance of 119 boys: 100 girls - in 2020 24 million men of marriageable age with no partners
6
Q
Social impacts (ageing population)
A
- 2012 - number of people 60+ was 200 million = 15% of population —> predicted to rise to 300 million in 2025 + 480 million in 2050
- LE increased between 2002 + 2011 from 71.5 to 74
- little support for the elderly - second generation of single children have no siblings, aunts, uncles or cousins
- in 2023 married couples responsible for up to 12 elderly relatives (2 sets of parents, up to 4 sets of grandparents)
- rural-urban migration of the young population has decreased the number caring for the old as they live to far away or lack time due to work - 2000 6 workers for retiree, 2023 barely 2
7
Q
Economic impacts
A
- a key factor to China’s economic rise to becoming the world’s leading trading nation was it’s manufacturing success through lots of unskilled, cheap labour
- this workforce began to shrink in 2012 due to the ‘one child generation’ - leading to a possible reduction in FDI
- increased demand for pensions - 229 urban employees, 449 million urban + rural residents has pension coverage in 2012 - posing a challenge to govt. to find these funds
8
Q
How was the policy relaxed?
A
- relaxed in 2016 - govt. allowed all couples to have 2 children
- but the rise in urbanisation has meant it is unlikely the fertility rate will rise significantly, as there has been a growth in Western-style reluctance to have more than one child to uphold a higher standard of living
9
Q
Evaluation
A
- the policy was successful in achieving its aim of reducing fertility rate in china - the fertility rate was 1.28 in 2020 in comparison to 2.75 in 1979 - thereby redeeming it as successful
- however, arguably urbanisation led to a change in values, especially within the urban population as more women grew a preference for no more than one child - therefore identifying that as a contributing factor to the fall in fertility rates
