China - One Child Policy

Question 1

When was the One Child Policy put in place, and by who?

Answer 1

1979 by Mao Ze Dong

Question 2

Why was this policy put in place?

Answer 2

It was put in place due to a population explosion which was causing famine in China. 35 million people died as a result of the famine; the population explosion was caused by Mao’s desire to have ‘the strongest army’.

Question 3

What was the aim of this new policy?

Answer 3

To reduce the population growth rate, thus reducing the peak population form an estimated 1.8 billion to 1.2 billion. This wasn’t quite achieved but 500,000 births have been prevented since 1979.

Question 4

How was this enforced? (Name 4 ways)

Answer 4

Forced abortions were put into place and females were often sterilised after their first child.
Advertisements and propaganda promoting the benefits of a one child family.
Dis-incentives were given such as: health benefits if you only have 1 child- which had to be paid back if you had two.
Fines were also given; these were designed to bankrupt families.

Question 5

What are the positive benefits of only having 1 child?

Answer 5

Less people = more sparsely populated area (more room for everybody).
Impacts on healthcare.
Economic growth.

Question 6

What are the negative effects of only having 1 child?

Answer 6

It violates a human right to determine the size of one’s family.
Women were left unmarried as men wanted to have their only child with the right women and there was a gender imbalance between women and men of 100:117. (spare branches)
It also encouraged female infanticide as families wanted to have a baby boy.
Often these only children were very spoilt and became known as ‘little emperors’.
In time, the policy has created an ageing population problem, known as the 4-2-1 problem.

Question 7

What were the changes in the policy in 1990’s?

Answer 7

• Families in rural areas were allowed 2 children to help with the farming.
• If both parents were only children, they were allowed 2 children.
• If the first child was disabled, you were allowed to apply to have a second as it was deemed that the disabled child would not be able to look after the elders of the family in later life.