CS: China’s 1 Child Policy

Question 1

General facts:

Answer 1

• pop of 1.3B
• policy introduced in 1979
• successful in preventing 300M births

Question 2

Background info

Answer 2

• 1949: pop at 550M when communist gov. took power
• 1950s: Mao Zedong promoted rapid pop. growth - lead to a catastrophic famine in 1962 (20M died)
• 1 Jan 1979 - China’s One child policy

Question 3

One child policy info

Answer 3

• Incentives for rural households: priority for loans, materials, technical assistance + social welfare
• other incentives: offered cash bonuses, better housing + free medical care
• most effective in urban areas
• Sanctions: 2009: dozens of babies taken from parents + sold for adoption abroad, fines up to 200,000 yuan
• 2016: Chinese gov. allowed couples to have 2 children

Question 4

What are the 4 problems with the one child policy?

Answer 4

• gender imbalance
• demographic ageing
• generation of ‘spoilt’ only children
• social divide

Question 5

What is the gender imbalance, caused by the one child policy?

Answer 5

• 119 boys:100 girls (natural rate 106:100)
  - 2008: estimated 32M more men < 20 compared to women
• 1980s: ultrasound screening introduced (determined gender) so inc selective abortion: major cause of gap between actual + natural rate
• male more practical for agri families: stronger so easily contributes to farms

Question 6

What is demographic ageing, caused by the one child policy?

Answer 6

• ‘4-2-1’ problem (1 adult left to support 2 parents + 4 grandparents)
  
  • quick ageing process due to speed of its demographic transition
• 2012: 200M ppl 60+ (15% of pop)
• 2050 = predicted to grow to 480M

Question 7

What is the generation of ‘spoilt’ only children, caused by the one child policy?

Answer 7

• called ‘little emperors’: indulged + pampered boy children, often overweight, arrogant + lacks social skills

Question 8

What causes the social divide, caused by the one child policy?

Answer 8

• an inc. number of wealthy couples ‘buy their way round’ the legislation
• whilst, poorer couples suffer human rights abuse: 336M abortions + 196M sterilisations, w many done against a women’s will

Question 9

How successful was the one child policy?

Answer 9

• successful as achieved aim of dec FR in china (1965-1970 = 6.1, by 2013 FR = 1.6)
• prevented 300M births
• 1950-2014: crude BR fell (43.8/1000-12/1000)

Question 10

Where there any unintended outcomes of the one child policy?

Answer 10

• urbanisation led to a change in values, esp. in the urban pop. as more women grew a preference for only 1 child - therefore identifying that as a contributing factor to the fall in FRs