One child policy, China- Management of rapid population
growth
The original policy
·
It was first introduced in 1979
·
Must not marry until late 20’s
·
Can only have one child
·
Must be sterilised after the first child, or
abort all future pregnancies
·
10% salary increase for only having one child
·
Priority housing, pensions and family benefits
for those with 1 child
Penalties for not following the rules
·
Large fine (that would bankrupt many families)
·
10% salary cut
·
Have to pay for education and healthcare
·
Second child born abroad would not be allowed to
become citizens of China
Changes in the 1990’s
·
Parents with no brothers/ sisters can have more
than one child- families were worried about their name dying out, also there
needs to be enough young people to look after aging population
·
People living in rural areas can have more than
1 child- they are needed to help on farms etc
·
Ethnic minorities can have more than 1 child, minorities
make up a very small amount of China’s population, so it wouldn’t make a big
difference
·
Couples don’t need permission to have a first
child
·
Following Sichuan earthquake the rules were
relaxed to help the population recover
Benefits of the policy
·
With less time needed to look after kids, women
have been able to concentrate on their careers
·
Repeats of famines like in the 1970’s have not
happened
·
400 million fewer births have occurred since the
policy was enforced
Problems with the policy
·
Still 1 million more births than deaths every 5
weeks
·
Increasing imbalance of men/ women as families
want boys to pass the name on
·
Some women have been forced to have abortions
very late in their pregnancies by ‘granny police’ who monitor young women
·
There has been many young girls killed so that
their families can have a boy
·
Children with no siblings get lots of attention,
and become known as ‘little emperors’
