Download China`s One Child Policy

China’s One Child Policy
Billboard in China
Facts about China
• 25% of the world’s population
• 7% of world’s arable land
• 8% of the world’s water supply
China vs. America
China’s Current Population: 1,338,299,500
America’s Current Population: 307,006,550
One Child Policy
• LAWS: 1979 – One child policy
*1980s – parents in rural areas may have 2 children if
the first is a girl.
*1990s – city parents may buy a permit (costing one
year’s wages) for a second child
*Punishment: abortion, mothers held in detention
centres, sterilization, fines, eviction from home
History of the One Child Policy
• 1950s: In the early 1950s the philosophy of the Chinese
government was ‘a large population gives a strong
nation’. The government wanted many children to be
born.
• 1959-61: Up to 20 million people died in a famine
including many children.
• 1960s: There was a population boom. The population
increased by 55 million during the decade (roughly the
total population of the UK)
• 1980s: Asking families to have fewer children during the
1970s had not worked so in 1979 the One Child Policy
was introduced.
• 1990s: The policy has been deemed a failure. At a
meeting in Peking in 1989 delegates were told there
would be around 120 million more Chinese people than
had been planned.
• 2000: Policy has been relaxed, but you are still fined
heavily is you have more than one child.
Government Propaganda for the One
Child Policy
For those with one child:
1. Free Education for your one child.
2. An extra months salary per year until your child
is 14.
3. A house normally reserved for a family of 4.
4. Pension benefits.
1. No free education
2. No allowances
3. No pension benefits
4. Payment of a fine to the state from
earnings
5. Demotion at work, or even
unemployment
To Help Families:
1. Women must be 20yrs old before they can
marry.
2. Men must be 22yrs old before they can marry.
3. Couples must have permission to marry.
4. Couples must have permission to have one
child.
5. All hospitals have family planning officers.
6. Family planning is available at work.
7. Country people are encouraged to move to
towns.
Effects of the One Child Policy
• Birth control measure seem to be working in the cities.
• In the Shaanxi Province there are 145 males born for
every 100 females born.
• This leads to large numbers of unmarried men.
• The baby boom of the 1950s means China has a large
greying population.
Effects of the One Child Policy
• The policy means there are low numbers of younger
people to support the old.
• Children with no brothers and sisters receive a great
deal of attention – spoilt.
• In rural areas problems have risen as they need the
children to help on the farm. They go to great
lengths to ensure the first child born is male. If the
first child is a girl the child may be disposed or killed
(female infanticide)