China's One Child Policy Flashcards
What year was the One Child Policy introduced in China?
1979
The One Child Policy is an anti-natal policy. What does anti-natal mean?
A policy introduced by countries with very high birth and fertility rates, such as China and Singapore, to try and control and reduce population numbers.
Explain why was the One Child Policy was introduced?
It was brought in because of concerns about the size of China’s population. China wanted to slow its population. A larger population equals more mouths to feed, more houses and jobs required and a greater demand for schools and hospitals.
In the 1960s the fertility rate was as high as 5.7 and the country could not support this rate of population growth.
What is the fertility rate?
The average number of babies born to each woman.
What would happen to a family who had a second child under the One Child Policy? What were the punishments for disobeying the rules?
The punishments for disobeying the rules were:
- A 10% salary cut
- A fine so large that it would bankrupt most households
The family would have to pay for the education of both children and health care for all the family
Second children born abroad were not penalised, but they were not allowed to become Chinese citizens
How did the policy impact fertility rates in China?
The fertility rate has dropped from 5.7 in 1960 to 1.5 in 2011.
What are the longer-term impacts of the One Child Policy?
Ageing Population
It has led to an ageing population with a high dependency ratio. The ageing population is also increasing because of the improvements in living standards and life expectancy in the country.
Gender Imbalance
The cultural preference for boys has meant that there seems to be a gender imbalance in China. There have been reports of female infanticide, especially when the policy was first introduced.
There were 37 million more men than women in 2020.
This gender imbalance is now narrowing as China seems to be valuing girls more. For example, girls are now encouraged to travel to the factories to work and bring home pay. Being a one-child policy girl also meant extra university points in one province.
What is the One Child Policy?
It is where only one child per family is allowed.
The one-child policy was introduced in 1979. It said that:
- Couples must not marry until their late 20s.
- Most have only one successful pregnancy.
- Must be sterilised after the first child or abort any future pregnancies.
- Would receive a 5-10% salary rise for limiting their family to one child.
What year was the One Child Policy scrapped?
In late 2015, the Chinese government announced it was to scrap the one-child policy. The decision was to allow families to have two children and was designed to redress the population imbalance and ensure there will be enough people of working age to look after China’s ageing population. However, this didn’t work and in 2021, China announced it would allow couples to have up to three children
Who was exempt from the One Child Policy?
- Rural families were allowed to have two children if their first was a girl.
- Ethnic groups were exempt because they could have become unsustainable under the One Child Policy.
- If a parent was an only child then they were allowed to have two children. (except government workers)
Who were the Granny Police?
Women were forced to have abortions, even as late as the ninth-month of the pregnancy.
Women were placed under tremendous pressure from their families, workmates, the ‘Granny Police’ and their own consciences and feelings.
The Granny Police were older women entrusted with keeping a regular check on couples of childbearing age, even accompanying women to contraception appointments to make sure they attended.
