one child policy essay titles

Was the One-Child Policy Ever a Good Idea?

China’s “one-child” policy has been relaxed, and now married couples may have two children. But according to scholars, the damage is already done.

China’s infamous “one-child policy” came to an end in 2016, when family limits in the nation were raised to two children.

The policy was always controversial. Back in 2016, sociology scholars Wang Feng, Baochang Gu, and Yong Cai reported on  drastic measures that had been taken to enforce the former policy , including an alleged 14 million abortions, 20.7 million sterilizations, and 17.8 million IUD insertions, many of which may have been involuntary.

The greatest irony of this is that the policy may have been a misguided measure from the start.

The restriction on family sizes was introduced in the 1980s. According to Feng et al., the policy was meant to be a temporary way to slow population expansion and facilitate economic growth at a time when the nation “faced severe shortages of capital, natural resources, and consumer goods.”

But many say China may have seen its much-desired decline in fertility happen naturally. Feng et al. note that “the answer to China’s underdevelopment did not come from its extreme birth control measures, but from reform policies that loosened state control over the economy.” They continue:

China’s economic boom over the last few decades has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, sent almost 100 million young men and women to college, and inspired generations of Chinese, both young and old, to purse their economic goals…Contrary to the claims of some Chinese officials, much of China’s fertility decline to date was realized prior to the launch of the one-child policy, under a much less strict policy in the 1970s calling for later marriage, longer birth intervals, and fewer births (Whyte, Wang, and Cai 2015). In countries that had similar levels of fertility in the early 1970s without extreme measures such as the one-child policy, fertility also declined, and some achieved a level similar to China’s today.

A decline in fertility rates often accompanies these cultural shifts, as families focus on careers, invest in education and gain access to family planning services.

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Moreover, according to the scholars, the harmful one-child policy lingered too long. The one-child policy became a part of a larger social conversation that “erroneously blamed population growth for virtually all of the country’s social and economic problems.” This is a cultural psychological belief that will take much more than a government act to reverse.

Additionally, The Guardian reports myriad negative reactions to the removal of the policy. According to the article, exhausted mothers can’t imagine enduring the pressures of having more than one child in China’s fast-paced, high-pressure environment. Some women who had their child and then went back to work are suddenly now seen as a liability in their workplaces again because they might now leave to have an additional child. Sociologist Ye Liu told The Guardian that women she had interviewed in China “feel like they were experiments of the state. They were the experiments [under the one-child policy] and now they are another experiment. They feel like they are forever being used by the state laboratory.” Plus, a struggling economy has some parents wondering what the point of bringing another child into the world would be. One parent is quoted as saying, “It’s not that I’m worried about [my son’s] future. I have no hope for it at all.”

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China’s One Child Policy

How it works

China is considered to be the highly populated country across the world. History says that China has the largest population which has ever been witnessed. By 1979 China’s population was estimated to be approximately one billion. This number of people made the country to look for a way they can do to reduce this population before it was too late. That’s when they came with a policy of one child. This policy has affected this country negatively. Firstly, according to AJ 2015, this one child policy has a lot of negative impacts.

They say that this policy has prevented over 400milion births which have highly created the labor shortage. China is well known for its industrialization hence a lot of laborers are needed hence this policy has created a shortage in labor supply. Again according to AJ 2015, the policy has cut fertility rate to 1.4-1.7 children per woman. This policy has created a big effect on gender balance.

China has experienced the most ever seen gender imbalance in the world. This is because parents prefer male children than girls making the parents to abandon the girl child. In this way, China has many boys than girls which is a major effect in future. According to AJ 2015, the county has tried to impose this rule in different ways. First, they have taught girls in school about this policy and also they have legalized abortion which to me is a negative effect on the girl child. A girl can die in the process. Also, they have taught the people about the use of contraceptives. Also according to the interview done to some people, they said that this policy is going since having one child you will concentrate your love to him, and the child will do better than any other child. This reason contradicts the economy since according to AJ 2015 they say that, with more people, the economy will be the best.

This is because people will be more hence production will be high making this policy to affect the economy negatively. When we look at NG 2010, they say that traditionally baby boys are most preferred a thing which is still witnessed today. When this policy came parents do not want to have the girl child. They prefer the boy child since the boy child will carry the family name, provide for labor and also take care of the family at old age. Due to this, the girl child has been an endangered gender in China. NG 2010, says that 12 percent of girls born in China are abandoned every year, approximating to 100000 girls. The girls abandoned are adopted to other countries, and others die in the process. The NG 2010 also say that one out of every four girls adopted overseas to the United States come from China.

Also according to NG 2010, the population of boys is growing very high in China. By this rate, men will lack women to marry. They also say that by 2020, 40 million men will lack women to marry. All this is because of the effect one child policy in China. This one-child policy in China according to NG 2010, has created gender imbalances which have created many crimes. Some of the crimes include prostitution, forced marriage, and also kidnapping. Again they also say that one child in a family get spoiled since that child does not miss anything. They argue that such a child can get very fat which is a danger to the child??™s health. In conclusion, from the above discussion, it is very clear that the one child policy in China has really created more negative effect than the positive effect. Therefore this policy should be abolished.

Ebenstein, A. (2010). The ‘missing girls’ of China and the unintended consequences of the one child policy. Journal of Human Resources, 45(1), 87-115.Hesketh, T., Lu, L., & Xing, Z. W. (2005). The effect of China’s one-child family policy after 25 years.

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• Subject areas

How does the one child policy impact social and economic outcomes?

A strict policy on fertility affects every aspect of economic life

National University of Singapore, Singapore, and IZA, Germany

Elevator pitch

The 20th century witnessed the birth of modern family planning and its effects on the fertility of hundreds of millions of couples around the world. In 1979, China formally initiated one of the world’s strictest family planning programs—the “one child policy.” Despite its obvious significance, the policy has been significantly understudied. Data limitations and a lack of detailed documentation have hindered researchers. However, it appears clear that the policy has affected China’s economy and society in ways that extend well beyond its fertility rate.

Key findings

Due to large variation in how the one child policy was implemented across regions and ethnicities, researchers are able to exploit natural variation in their analyses, which makes empirical results reliable.

Strictness of policy implementation is associated with promotion incentives for local leaders.

The one child policy significantly curbed population growth, though there is no consensus on the magnitude.

Under the policy, households tried to have additional children without breaking the law; some unintended consequences include higher reported rates of twin births and more Han-minority marriages.

There is no solid evidence that the one child policy contributed to human capital accumulation through the traditional “quantity–quality” trade-off channel.

Current economic studies mainly focus on short-term effects, while the long-term or lagged effects are substantially understudied; thus, statements about consequences and suggestions for policy designs are still missing.

The one child policy is associated with significant problems, such as an unbalanced sex ratio, increased crime, and individual dissatisfaction toward the government.

Author's main message

China’s one child policy is possibly the largest social experiment in the history of the human race. The behavior responses to the policy offer important insights for other studies in labor, development, and public economics. To date, researchers have found that a series of outcomes, such as a lower fertility rate, an unbalanced sex ratio at birth, and higher human capital, are potentially associated with the policy. However, the answers to many important questions are far from satisfactory, and some (e.g. the long-term effects on lifecycle outcomes) have received little attention.

The 20th century included the inception of modern family planning, which restricted the fertility of hundreds of millions of couples around the world. Due to concerns about the world’s unprecedented rate of population growth in the mid-20th century, some aid agencies and international organizations began to support the establishment of family planning programs. About 40 years later, in the mid-1990s, large-scale family planning programs were active in 115 countries.

China’s “one child policy” (OCP) is the largest among the world’s family planning programs. In the 1970s, after two decades of explicitly encouraging population growth, policymakers in China began enacting a series of measures to curb it. The OCP was formally initiated in 1979 and firmly established across the country in 1980. It was the first time that family planning policy became formal law in China. Differing from birth control policies in many other countries, the OCP assigned a compulsory general “one-birth” quota to each couple, though its implementation has varied considerably across regions for different ethnicities at different times. The policy affected millions of couples and lasted more than 30 years. According to the World Bank, the fertility rate in China dropped from 2.81 in 1979 to 1.51 in 2000. The reduced fertility rate is likely to have affected the Chinese labor market profoundly.

Despite its grand scope, due to data limitations, the literature on the OCP is relatively small. This article reviews some of the recent studies on the topic, with a focus on the policy’s potential social and economic consequences, including consequences related to fertility, sex ratios, and education, as well as individual behavior responses, such as changes to reported twin births and interethnic marriages. By comparing the results of the existing literature and ongoing studies in China to those in other countries, it appears that the OCP has had a large and persistent impact on many aspects of society. Investigating these impacts may shed light on related issues in other realms of research, such as economics, demographics, and sociology.

Discussion of pros and cons

Variations in ocp implementation.

In 1979, the Chinese government formally initiated the OCP to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems such as the high unemployment rate and scarcity of land resources. In recognition of diverse demographic and socio-economic conditions across China, the central government issued “Document 11” in February 1982 which allowed provincial governments to issue specific and locally adjusted regulations. Two years later, the central government issued “Document 7” which further stipulated that regulations regarding birth control were to be made in accordance with local conditions and were to be approved by the provincial Standing Committee of the People’s Congress and provincial-level governments. This document devolved responsibility from the central government to the local and provincial governments.

As opposed to many family planning policies in other countries, the OCP was compulsory rather than voluntary. As the name suggests, the policy restricted a couple to having only one child. However, there were some exemptions. The birth quota varied according to residence (urban/rural) and ethnicity (Han/non-Han). Since Han ethnicity is by far the largest in China, accounting for 93% of the population, the policy mainly restricted the fertility of people with Han ethnicity. In general, Han households in urban regions were only allowed to have one child, while most households in rural areas could have a second child if their first was female (this exception is called the “one-and-a-half-child policy”). Meanwhile, in most regions, households of non-Han ethnicity were allowed to have two or three children, regardless of gender.

A frequently used measure in studies of the OCP is the average monetary penalty rate for one unauthorized birth in the province-year from 1979 to 2000. The OCP regulatory fine (which is called the “social child-raising fee” in China, and for brevity is referred to as the “policy fine” in this article) is formulated in multiples of annual income. Though the monetary penalty is only one aspect of the policy, and the government may take other administrative actions (e.g. loss of party membership or employment), it is still a good proxy for the policy because an increase in fines is usually associated with other stricter policies. The Illustration shows the pattern of policy fines from 1980 to 2000 in selected provinces and nationwide.

At the very beginning of the OCP, Vice Premier Muhua Chen proposed that it would be necessary to pass new legislation imposing penalties on unauthorized births. However, subnational leaders faced practical difficulties in collecting penalties in addition to resistance and complaints from the populace. For example, Guangdong province received more than 5,000 letters complaining about the implementation of the OCP in 1984. In response, the central government fully authorized the provincial governments to determine their own “tax rates” for excessive births with the issuance of Document 7 in 1984. Because local governments were more concerned about social stability than the central government, they had little incentive to design a high penalty rate. Consistent with the Illustration , some local governments even lowered penalty rates after 1984, and, until 1989, there were few changes in fertility penalties.

A major change in fine rates occurred at the end of the 1980s though, when the central government linked the success of fertility control to promotions for local officials. As stated in the book Governing China’s Population : “Addressing governors in spring 1989 Li Peng (current premier) said that population remained in a race with grain, the outcome of which would affect the survival of the Chinese race. To achieve subnational compliance, policy must be supplemented with more detailed management by objectives (ME 890406). At a meeting on birth policy in the premier’s office, Li Peng explained that such targets should be ‘evaluative’” [2] .

In March 1991, to show resoluteness, the central government listed family planning among the three basic state policies in China’s Eighth Five-Year Plan passed by the National People’s Council. The Eighth Five-Year Plan explicitly set a goal of reducing the natural growth rate of the country’s population to less than 1.25% on average during the following decade. To achieve such a challenging objective, national leaders employed a “responsibility system” to induce subnational or provincial officials to set high fine rates.

During the short period between 1989 and 1992, over half of the country’s provinces (16 out of 30) saw a significant increase in their fine rate, with the average rate increasing from 1.0 to 2.8 times a household’s yearly income. Indeed, 16 of the 21 significant increases in the policy’s history (i.e. increases of more than one times a household’s income) occurred during this period.

There is a strong correlation between increases in fine rates and the incidence of government successions. Among the 16 significant increases, 12 happened during the first two years of new provincial governors’ tenures. Governors who instituted fine increases had higher chances of being promoted than their peers, and several rose to significant heights within the central government. In addition, provincial governors who increased fertility fines tended to be younger. The average age of these 16 provincial governors was 56, which was significantly lower than the average age of other provincial governors (59 years). These numbers suggest that the promotion incentive for provincial governors could be a major driving force for the changes in fertility fines. This is also consistent with the premise that the incentive to raise fine rates depends on a governor’s personal characteristics, such as inauguration time and age.

The amount collected via the policy fine was not made public until recently: the total was about 20 billion RMB yuan (US$ 3.3 billion) among 24 provinces that reported fine rates in 2012. For example, Guangdong, one of the richest provinces in China, collected 1.5 billion yuan in 2012. Meanwhile, as a comparison, total local government expenditure on compulsory schooling in the province was 10.5 billion.

Empirical approaches to identify the effects of the OCP

A recent review of the literature summarizes four empirical approaches to identify the effects of the OCP [3] .

The first approach uses the initial year of the policy, 1979, as a cutoff and compares the birth behaviors of women before and after implementation of the OCP. Under this approach, observations before 1979 form the control group and those after 1979 the treatment group. In general, this approach assumes there would be no change in the outcome variable (e.g. birth rate) after 1979 if there was no fertility restriction.

The second approach compares the outcomes of Han Chinese and minorities before and after policy implementation in a difference-in-differences framework. Under this approach, minorities are used as the control group and Han people as the treatment group. This methodology requires that the changes in outcome variables of Han and minorities be the same without the OCP and assumes that minorities’ outcomes are not affected by the OCP. However, this requires a case-by-case analysis and one needs to be careful when drawing causal interpretations. For example, because Han-minority couples are allowed to give birth to a second child in certain regions (as shown in Figure 1 ), Han people have stronger incentives to marry minorities to obtain the extra birth quota. One direct consequence is a higher Han-minority marriage rate in regions with this preferential policy, as shown in Figure 2 .

The third approach exploits the cross-sectional and temporal variations on fines for an illegal birth. As noted before, the fines change over time; it is thus plausible to exploit these variations to identify the effects of the fines. Unfortunately, there is no formal or accurate documentation for why the fines change. Furthermore, these changes may only reflect one aspect of the policy’s effects. Therefore, further justification is required to validate the use of fines as the main independent variable.

The fourth approach explores variation between the intensity of OCP implementation across different regions in combination with the differential length of exposure of different birth cohorts to the OCP. Specifically, this approach constructs a measure based on excess births to Han women over and above the one child rule in each region while controlling for pre-existing fertility and community socio-economic status. However, as noted in one recent study, this approach relies on the strong assumption that any unobserved region-specific shocks to fertility or other family outcomes over time are uncorrelated with the cross-sectional measure of the OCP enforcement intensity [3] .

It should be noted that these four approaches are not exclusive. Some ongoing projects are employing several of them at once. Given that official documentation on the policy is limited, researchers are likely to develop more empirical approaches in the future to address the current issues, such as data limitations, and gain a more complete understanding of the OCP.

Effects of the OCP on fertility and the sex ratio

Since the primary goal of the OCP was to restrict population growth, the first question to ask is whether it has been successful in this respect. The answer is generally yes, though the magnitude of its success varies according to different studies.

Some early studies investigated how fertility responded to the policy’s restrictions [4] . Their findings are consistent, in general. For example, it was found that a one standard deviation increase in the prevalence of contraceptives led to a 0.5 standard deviation decrease in the total fertility rate.

However, the findings in the more recent literature are mixed. For instance, one study used improved measures of policy to suggest that if earlier family planning policies had not been replaced by the OCP, fertility would still have declined below the replacement level, and that the additional effects of the OCP were fairly limited [5] . By contrast, a study from 2011 used two rounds of the Chinese Population Census and found that the OCP has had a large negative effect on fertility; the average effect on post-treatment cohorts’ probability of having a second child is as large as -11 percentage points [6] . Therefore, while scholars tend to agree that the OCP has had significant effects on fertility, determining the magnitude of these effects remains an important and unanswered question.

Another demographic outcome commonly investigated in the literature is sex ratio. Incidentally correlated with the introduction of the OCP, the sex ratio at birth (i.e. males to females) increased by 0.2 over the course of 25 years, from 0.95 in 1980 to 1.15 in 2005. This phenomenon has been termed “missing women” by Amartya Sen. Since there is a strong preference for male children in China, restrictions have led to parents selecting to have/not have a child based on the results of ultrasonography technology [7] . Because parents have been able to choose abortion instead of having a girl, many researchers argue that the OCP has contributed to the high sex ratio in China. One study exploited the regional and temporal variation in fines levied for unauthorized births and found that higher fine regimes are associated with higher ratios of males to females [1] . The results are especially true for the second or third births: a 100% increase in the fine rate is associated with a 0.8 and 2.3 percentage point increase in the probability of having a male child in the second and third births, respectively. One of the previously mentioned studies used a different methodology, but reached a similar finding [6] . The study suggests that the effect of the OCP accounts for about 57% and 54% of the total increase in sex ratios for the 1991–2000 and 2001–2005 birth cohorts, respectively.

The imbalanced sex ratio may help to explain some puzzling phenomena in China, such as a high saving rate. In turn, this can be viewed as a possible consequence of the OCP. For example, one study found that as the sex ratio rises, Chinese parents with a son increase their savings rate in order to improve their son’s relative attractiveness for marriage [8] . They find that the increase in the sex ratio from 1990 to 2007 can explain about 60% of the actual increase in the household savings rate during the same period.

Furthermore, the imbalanced sex ratio may lead to other serious social consequences, including increased crime. One study used the exogenous variation in sex ratio caused by the OCP to see its effect on crime and found an elasticity of crime with respect to the sex ratio of 16- to 25-year-olds of 3.4, suggesting that male sex ratios can account for one-seventh of the rise in crime [7] . The study proposes that one possible mechanism for this increase could be the adverse marriage market due to the unbalanced sex ratio.

Effects of the OCP on human capital accumulation

One established relationship between fertility and human capital accumulation is the child quantity–quality trade-off. However, many empirical economists have examined the relationship in the case of China and found mixed evidence. The OCP used birth quotas to control population growth. As such, it provides a potential external shock to the size of families and thus enables one to study causality between family size and children’s education.

One analysis used the plausibly exogenous changes in family size caused by relaxations in the OCP to estimate the effect of the number of children in a family on school enrollment for the first child [9] . Surprisingly, the results show that having an additional child increased the likelihood of school enrollment of the first child by about 16 percentage points, implying the relationship between quantity and quality is not a “trade-off,” but rather “complementary.” The author provides several explanations, including greater economies of scale, enhanced permanent income, and increased labor supply of mothers.

Taking an alternate approach, another study exploited the exogenous variation in twin births in different birth orders to estimate the potential gain in human capital by policy-induced compressed family size [10] . The authors used the policy’s characteristics to tell the story: producing twins on the first birth results in an exogenous shock to family size in urban regions, whereas having twins on the second birth represents an exogenous shock to family size in rural regions because parents in these areas are already allowed to have a second child. The results show a modest but positive effect of compressed family size induced by the OCP on human capital, as measured by health and education.

The above findings suggest that the effects of the OCP on human capital are not well established when only considering the quality–quantity trade-off. For example, a study from 2010 investigated the impact of fertility policies on the socio-economic status and labor supply of women aged 15–49 years in Colombia. The results suggest that women impacted by birth control policy during their teenage years are more likely to have higher education. One possible explanation is that people are more incentivized to achieve higher education if they expect to have lower fertility. As opposed to the quality–quantity trade-off, which only affects post-policy birth cohorts, the effects from lower fertility expectations may be present among those who were born before the policy’s implementation, but grew up during its tenure. This finding calls for further examination of the OCP’s impact on human capital accumulation. This is important because it suggests another explanation for how fertility affects economic growth.

Discussion on the OCP’s effects on human capital is still ongoing. The varied findings imply that the answer to the human capital question may depend on the individuals/cohorts examined and on the model specification employed. Although it is difficult to answer whether and to what extent the OCP increased human capital, the policy itself provides plausibly exogenous variations for future studies to examine.

Effects of the OCP on other family outcomes

Other outcomes, such as divorce, labor supply, and rural-to-urban migration have received less attention in the literature, though they are investigated in a recent study [3] . The results suggest that regions with stricter fertility policy enforcement tend to have a greater likelihood of divorce, higher male labor force participation rates, and more rural-to-urban migration; however, these effects are modest. A one standard deviation increase in policy enforcement (measured by excess fertility, as mentioned in the fourth approach presented previously) leads to a 0.015 percentage point higher divorce rate, a 0.12 percentage point higher male labor force participation rate, and a 0.8 percentage point higher rural-to-urban migration rate. The results suggest that lower birth rates may have some unintended consequences that scholars and policymakers need to consider.

Another interesting phenomenon is the increased rate of twin births. When a couple is allowed one child, the only legitimate way to have two children is to give birth to twins, which is largely out of the control of the couple. For those who do not give birth to twins, an alternative is to report fake twins, that is, to register two consecutive siblings as twins. Interestingly, the rate of twin births reported in population censuses more than doubled between the late 1960s and the early 2000s, from 3.5 to 7.5 per 1,000 births. A recent study suggests that at least one-third of the increase in twins since the 1970s can be explained by the OCP [11] . Since couples can intentionally have twin births to bypass the OCP (i.e. by reporting fake twins or taking fertility drugs to have multiple births), the distribution of reported twins in China may not be random.

Limitations and gaps

One limitation of studying the impact of the OCP may be the measures employed. Because this policy was implemented essentially at once across the entire country, little variation exists in the timing. Because of this, many scholars have relied on the differential treatment of Han and minority ethnicities to evaluate the policy’s effects. However, this is not a perfect approach because different characteristics across the ethnicities may be correlated with the time trends, thereby biasing the results.

In addition, local governments usually had a “policy package” when implementing the OCP, which often included different penalties for illegal births for people from different backgrounds. For example, when an illegal birth is observed, those with party membership may lose it, and those hired by the public sector or collective firms may lose their jobs. These measures may go hand in hand with policy fines, but they are hard to quantify.

Furthermore, since the literature relates behavior response to social welfare, economists usually examine individuals’ behavioral responses to government policies to estimate the corresponding social welfare loss. However, no study has so far examined the corresponding welfare loss for fertility policies. To do this, researchers may need to build up a model and then analyze rich data sets to provide relevant empirical evidence. However, the difficulty in this regard originates from the lack of official documentation or details regarding the implementation of China’s OCP.

Finally, the current literature on the OCP mainly investigates the simultaneous or short-term effects. Specifically, it compares how individual behaviors differ before and after the implementation of the policy. However, there is little evidence on the long-term or lagged effects of the OCP. Take the study from 2010 as an example, whose results suggest that women growing up under birth restrictions may have higher socio-economic status [12] . Considering this, the lower fertility expectations resulting from the OCP may lead to higher education, and this potentially has profound and long-lasting effects on productivity and economic growth. However, this is largely unknown in the current literature.

Summary and policy advice

As the largest social experiment in human history, the OCP has restricted the fertility of millions of couples in China for more than three decades. This article has reviewed outcomes presented in the literature about the OCP, with a focus on its intended and unintended consequences, including fertility, sex ratio, human capital, twin births, and interethnic marriages. The results suggest that the policy has had large and long-lasting impacts on many aspects of both the economy and society, though debates persist on certain topics. The current findings also provide possible directions for insightful future studies.

It is hard to conclude whether the OCP has been good or bad in general. It has curbed the potentially problematic population boom in China, though researchers disagree as to how much of that should be attributed to the OCP, and it has possibly increased human capital accumulation. But, it has also brought with it problems, such as an unbalanced sex ratio, increased crime, and individual dissatisfaction toward the government. Since 2010, the government has loosened the policy restrictions. In late 2013, China’s government started the “selective two child policy.” This policy allows couples to have two children if one member of the couple has no siblings. In November 2015, the government ended the OCP and started the “universal two child policy.” Although the OCP has now been terminated, there are many important questions that have yet to be answered. Until considerable further research is done, it is difficult to extrapolate lessons from China’s experience to inform future policy decisions.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks an anonymous referee and the IZA World of Labor editors for many helpful suggestions on earlier drafts. Previous work of the author contains a larger number of background references for the material presented here and has been used intensively in all major parts of this article [11] .

Competing interests

The IZA World of Labor project is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity . The author declares to have observed these principles.

© Wei Huang

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One-Child Policy and Its Influence on China Essay

Introduction, background and concept of one-child policy, the effects of china’s one-child policy, populace growth, the sex ratio, rights to life, proportion of old age dependency, the future of the policy, works cited.

China’s one-tyke family strategy has affected the lives of almost a fourth of the world’s populace. The Chinese government guaranteed that it was a transient measure to move toward a little intentional family culture. Thus, we will analyze the influence of China’s one-tyke policy, its accomplishment, and recommendations. This paper will discuss why the approach was presented and how it is actualized. We will analyze the results of the arrangement about populace development, the proportion amongst men and women, and the proportion between grown-up kids and elderly guardians. Finally, we will examine the significance of the strategy in contemporary China.

As China rose out of the social interruptions and monetary stagnation of the Cultural Revolution, its government dispatched market changes to revive the economy. In 1979, perceiving that populace control was vital to raise expectations for everyday comforts, the one-tyke family approach was presented (Kang and Wang 91). The one-child policy has exposed the challenges of human freedom. It is morally unsuitable to take a human life, be it by homicide, capital punishment, or premature birth. Numerous social orders acknowledged premature birth to safeguard the mental and social prosperity of the mother.

This strategy restricts family estimate, empowers a late marriage, childbearing, and the dividing of kids when second kids are allowed. Family spacing panel at neighborhood levels created immediate techniques to support the policy. However, the one-tyke principle applies to urban inhabitants and government workers (Hao 171). In rustic zones, a second child is permitted following five years, if the first is a woman. A third kid is authorized in some ethnic minorities and in remote, under-populated regions. Financial motivations for consistence, significant fines, seizure of property and loss of employment, were utilized to authorize the approach.

The strategy depends on general access to contraception and premature birth. By implication, Eighty-seven for each penny of wedded women used contraception. Most women acknowledged the technique suggested by the family physician, which supported one-child policy (Hao 172). Dependence on long haul contraception kept the premature birth rate low (25 for every penny of Chinese ladies of regenerative age have had no less than one fetus removal, as contrasted 43 for each penny in the United States). Premature births are authorized when contraceptives are ineffective or when the pregnancy is not affirmed. However, Unattended and unsanctioned conveyances do happen.

In 1979, the Chinese government left with an aspiring system of business change taking after the financial stagnation of the Cultural Revolution. Sixty-six percent of the populace was under the age of 30 years, and the children of postwar America of the 1950s and 1960s were entering their regenerative years. The administration saw strict populace control as key to monetary change and a change in living standards. As a result, the Chinese government presented the one-kid family arrangement. The strategy comprises of an arrangement of directions administering the affirmed size of Chinese families. These controls incorporate limitations on family measure, late marriage, and childbearing, and the separating of kids (where second kids are allowed). Family-arranging advisory groups as common and regional levels devise immediate systems for execution. Despite its name, the one-kid principle applies to a minority of the populace; for urban occupants and government workers, the arrangement are upheld, with a couple of exemptions (Festini and de Martino 360).

Special cases incorporate families in which the main kid has an inability or both guardians work in high-hazard occupations, (for example, mining) or are themselves from one-youngster families (in a few zones). In areas where 70 percent of the general population lives, a second child permitted following five years, yet this arrangement occasionally applies if the main youngster is a woman (an unmistakable affirmation of the conventional inclination for boys). The influence of China’s one-tyke policy affected the sex ratio and population growth. However, the policy increased abortion to astronomical heights.

The one-child policy is a standout amongst the most critical social approaches ever executed in China. The approach, set up in 1979, restricted couples to just having one tyke. The policy was influenced by China’s amazingly vast populace development, which was seen as a danger to the nation’s future monetary development and expectations for everyday comforts of the general population (Festini and de Martino 359). At the season of being actualized, China’s populace was around 970 million (Festini and de Martino 360), thus, it was the Chinese government’s objective to enforce populace development to keep the aggregate populace focused around 1.2 billion for the year 2000 (Hao 170). China’s aggregate populace was around 1.26 billion in 2000 (Hu 5), so the objective was accomplished, yet maybe was marginally higher than what the legislature estimated. For the arrangement to be effectively executed, the administration presented motivating forces so that the populace would follow the directions.

These impetuses have been monetary, including duties and fines for the individuals who do not go with the policy. For instance, families have favored access to lodging, social insurance and instruction (Festini and de Martino 368). There have been both positive and negative effects connected with the one-tyke policy in China. It has been effective in avoiding between 250 million and 300 million births (Festini and de Martino 370), and in addition, diminishing the aggregate ripeness rate (TFR) from 2.7 youngsters for every woman in 1980 to 1.7 in 2011 (Festini and de Martino 369). This figure in TFR has prompted the diminishing of the aggregate populace of China accordingly dodging a populace blast, keeping up monetary development, and enhancing expectation of everyday comforts. Nonetheless, there are worries that the current TFR that is underneath the substitution level of 2.1 may bring a different demographic circumstance. This low TFR may decrease to lower level, potentially prompting a populace decrease that supports ‘minimal low’ richness (TFR of 1.3 or beneath). By implication, there will be an absence of individuals in the working age populace and the prospect of a maturing populace (Kang and Wang 91). This would influence the reliance proportion of the nation and put gigantic weight on the administration to give monetary and social backing to the elderly populace.

A standout amongst the impacts of the one child policy has been China’s sex proportion and the “missing young ladies” marvel. China has encountered a skewed sex proportion for quite a while, before tyke policy was presented. This issue has been exacerbated subsequent to the presentation of the approach. In China, having male kids is favored over girls. This inclination is particularly present in rustic territories because male children are in charge of supporting relatives once they have achieved maturity. As a result, the child inclination has prompted an expanded skew in the sex proportion during childbirth. Prior to the strategy in 1979, the sex proportion was 115 boys per 96 girls marginally higher than the world sex proportion of 109 boys per 90 females. The amazingly skewed sex proportion in China has prompted the “missing young ladies” wonder, which means many young women are “lost” from China’s populace registers. There are four fundamental clarifications for this: female child murder, disregard, or relinquishment; underreporting of female births; reception of female kids; and sex-particular premature births (Riley 34).

Abortion, which is the primary driver of China’s sex proportion, was an aftereffect of the policy. Through the presentation of ultrasound machines in the mid-1980s, Chinese couples could illicitly discover the sex of their tyke and after that could complete a fetus removal if their first kid was a female, making it workable for them to have a child (Kaiman14).

Lately, there have been arrangements with the Chinese government to unwind the policy. Notwithstanding, there is levelheaded discussion whether this will make a populace blast inside China. The monetary weight of having a kid has deflected numerous couples from having a second tyke; subsequently this unwinding of the arrangement might not affect the populace development of China. Consequently, numerous couples from provincial regions will probably have a second tyke as they depend more on their sons to bolster the family. There could even be a plausibility of the policy being suspended by 2020 (Kaiman14), however this will rely on upon future demographic patterns and if the legislature will surrender one of the greatest strategies ever presented in China.

At the point when the one-youngster approach was presented, the administration set an objective populace of 1.2 billion by the year 2000 (Kaiman16). The census count of 2000 puts the populace at 1.27 billion. The strategy itself influenced the diminishing in the ripeness rate. The most sensational abatement, in the rate really happened before the arrangement was enforced. Different interpretations have been advanced to clarify why 118 young men are conceived for every 101 young women conceived with sex-particular fetus removal picking up the amplest acknowledgment. Indeed, even in other Asian nations without populace control projects, for example, South Korea and Taiwan, the solid social inclination for children joined the entrance to cut edge innovations, for example, ultrasound has brought about expanded male sex proportions during childbirth. In the United States, some Chinese outsiders utilized sex fetus removal to sustain the male child ratio. Sex-selection birth includes couples picking premature birth if the embryo is observed to be a female tyke. In June of 2006, the Chinese governing body declined to case, sex-selection premature births a wrongdoing, though abortion is illegal. Since sex-premature births abuse, family control strategy, the legislature has guaranteed to rebuff the policy (Kaiman 4).

The social weight applied by the one-kid strategy has influenced the rate at which guardians surrender undesirable youngsters in state-supported housing, from which thousands are embraced both universally and by Chinese guardians. The guardians offered them up for formal or casual selection. A greater part of youngsters who experienced formal selection in China in the late 1980’s was young women, which has increased in the recent survey. The acts of receiving undesirable young women are steady with both the child inclination of numerous Chinese couples.

The impact of the strategy on the sex proportion has gotten much consideration. The sex proportion during childbirth, characterized as the extent of male births to female ranged from 1.03 to 1.07 in industrialized countries. There has been an enduring increment in the reported sex proportion, from 1.08 in 1979, 1.12 in 1988, to 1.19 in 2001. Thus, the policy supported sex-selection ratios in China (Hesketh and Xing 1172). By implication, parents abort a female fetus, which they consider a liability to family stability. This assumption has been widely criticized by human rights institutions (Hesketh and Xing 1173).

What transpires the missing young women involves hypothesis. Sex-fetus removal after ultrasonography without a doubt represents a decrease in female births. Actual figures are difficult to get, because sex-premature birth is illicit and not documented (Hesketh and Xing 1171). Consequently, non-registration of female birth adds to the sex-proportion gap. A survey completed in three areas found a typical sex proportion in the under-14 age bunch, with the genuine number of young women surpassing the number enlisted by 22 percent (Hesketh and Xing 1173). Although child murders of young women are extremely uncommon now, fewer treatments of female newborn are uncommon.

Numerous human rights institutions have scrutinized the “One-Child Policy”. They considered the one-youngster approach is against the human right of proliferation. Reactions mostly concentrate on the very conceivable social issues, for example, the “One-Two-Four” issue, while perceiving the significance of having such an approach for the nation. Identified with this feedback are sure the side-outcomes that are ascribed to the one-kid strategy, including the utilization of sex-selection birth. Birth proponents argue that the one-tyke strategy is an infringement of human rights. Consequently, practices purportedly used to actualize this arrangement are illegal. China has been blamed for meeting its populace prerequisites through the gift, intimidation, constrained disinfection, constrained premature birth, and child murder, with most reports originated from rustic zones (Hesketh and Xing 1173).

An online report revealed that in 2005, share of 20,000 constrained premature births in Guangdong province was set because of the reported carelessness of the one-tyke approach (Hesketh and Xing 1175). The exertion included utilizing compact ultrasound gadgets to find premature birth applicants. The report stated that women as far along as 8.5 months pregnant were compelled to prematurely end by infusion of saline arrangement into the womb. Because of the procedure, the mother is exposed to extraordinary mental and physical torment. Thus, utilization of constrained disinfection and controlled birth is in disagreement with formally expressed approaches and perspective on China as indicated by government authorities (Susan 165).

It is obscure how regular child murder is in China, however, government authorities say that it is uncommon. There are stories of guardians executing their female newborn in remote and country regions for various reasons. Beside evasion of the punishments and confinements of the state prevention arrangement, the main drivers of child murder, particularly for infant, girls, would be needed in rural China alongside the customary inclination for boys. Thus, the Chinese government has recognized the unfortunate social outcomes of this sex lopsidedness. The deficiency of girls has expanded mental issues and social conduct among men. Although the one-kid arrangement has been reprimanded for the high sex proportion, it is one contributory variable. There was a high sex proportion in China in the 1930s and 1940s, because of child murder of girls, and afterward the proportion declined in the years after the Communist Revolution of 1949. However, sex-fetus removal would proceed at a lower rate without the one-child policy.

The quick abatement in the birth rate, joined steady or enhance future, has prompted an expanding extent of elderly individuals and an increment in the proportion between elderly guardians and grown-up children. The rate of the populace beyond 65 is at par with adolescents. Although these figures are lower than those in industrialized regions are, the absence of sufficient annuity scope in China implies that money related reliance on posterity is still fundamental for 65 percent of elderly people. Pension scope is accessible to those utilized in the administration part and extensive organizations. This issue has been named the “four-to-one” wonder, implying that expanding quantities of couples will be in charge of the consideration of one youngster and four guardians. Activities are under an approach to enhance access to government benefits for private annuities trying to diminish the weight of the 4:2:1 phenomenon.

The Chinese government is confronting a critical test: the need to adjust the human right of proliferation with populace development. Thus, the unwinding strategy must be tailored to align with the rights to life. There is presently great proof that China is turning into a little family culture. Thus, government institutions must abolish the policy to avoid workforce shortage. Perceiving that ultrasonography encourages sex premature birth, non-administrative associations effectively campaigned to sanction the law. Improving the financial and social estimation of women will require creative projects. Enhanced instruction and pay employment offer in parental property will add to the improved status of women.

Indeed, even the tyrant legislature of China must make concessions to the social male inclination in permitting most of its populace to the second tyke when the first is a young woman. Along these lines, while sex determination is illicit in China, a high extent of kids (particularly the second youngster) is young men demonstrating that the prohibition on fetus removal is not extremely successful. Consequently, the Chinese government has declared “particular strategies for young women in medical services, training, and income. We have seen from China’s case that laws influencing societal states of mind are hard to uphold. In India, the two-tyke strategy has been implemented by denying employments to those with more than two kids. The punishments have influenced primarily those from the lower position and class while the upper ranks and classes have the capacity to maintain a strategic distance (Barry 122).

The one-child policy has exposed the challenges of human freedom. It is morally unsuitable to take a human life, be it by homicide, capital punishment, or premature birth. Numerous social orders acknowledged premature birth to safeguard the mental and social prosperity of the mother. Women activists have battled long and difficult to make fetus removal lawful and effectively accessible to women. By implication, women must have the supreme right to life (Barry 134). The monstrous movement to urban zones could clear much of the ills ascribed to sexual irregularity in China (Hu 6). A few guardians may over-enjoy their exclusive tyke creating adolesenct issues.. Since the 1990s, a few people have stressed that this will bring about a higher propensity toward poor social correspondence and participation abilities among children. However, no social studies have researched the proportion of these over-reveled kids and to what degree they are reveled. With the original of youngsters conceived under the strategy, achieving adulthood, such stresses are reduced.

Barry, Naughton. The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth , Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2007. Print.

Festini, Filippo, and de Martino, Matiq. “Twenty Five Years of the One Child Family Policy in China.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 58.1 (2004): 358-373. Print.

Hao, Yuri. “China’s 1.2 Billion Target for the Year 2000: ‘Within’ or ‘Beyond’?” The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs 19.20 (1988): 165-183.

Hesketh, Therese, and Xing, Zhu. “The Effect of China’s One-Child Family Policy After 25 Years.” The New England Journal of Medicine 353.11 (2005): 1171-1176.

Hu, Huiting 2002, Family Planning Law and China’s Birth Control Situation . Web.

Kaiman, Jonathan 2013, China’s One-Child Policy to be Relaxed as Part of Reforms Package The Guardian . Web.

Kaiman, Jonathan, 2014 Time Running Out for China’s One-Child Policy after Three Decades the Guardian . Web.

Kang, Cun, and Wang, Yuri 2003, “Sex Ratio at Birth In: Theses Collection of 2001.” National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Survey 23.1 (2003): 88-98.Print.

Riley, Nancy. “China’s Population: New Trends and Challenges.” Population Journal 60.2 (2004): 14-45.

Susan, Greenhalgh. “Science, Modernity, and the Making of China’s One-Child Policy.” Population and Development Review 29.1 (2003): 163-196. Print.

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Martin K. Whyte

John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Sociology, Emeritus (email)

• China's One Child Policy

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21 Advantages and Disadvantages of the One Child Policy

The one child policy was part of the birth planning program implemented by China in the 1970s to control the size of its national population. It was unique from other family planning policies around the world which focus on contraception, setting a legal limit on the size of a household in the country. This policy was implemented after a 10-year-long, two-child child policy that the Communist government enforced.

There were a variety of methods used to enforce this policy, including financial awards issued by the government. Beginning in 1982, China began rewarding families with an extra 5 yuan per month if they only had one child. Then the national government worked with local officials to conduct inspections, carry out registrations, and implement legal consequences for those who did not comply.

This policy created a number of unintended outcomes that the Chinese government is trying to manage today. It caused the nation’s fertility rates to plummet when compared to the rest of the world, even though the original implementation of it was as a temporary measure. There are several advantages and disadvantages of this policy to consider.

List of the Advantages of the One Child Policy

1. Families were not forced into abortions like some outside of China believe. There were voluntary abortions that occurred in China frequently because of the one child policy due to the desire for a boy instead of a girl. In this culture, the lineage and estate go through the male child, so many felt like their family line would terminate if they didn’t have a boy. That meant there was a significant increase in the number of voluntary abortions that occurred during this time, but it was not a mandatory policy of the government.

Even if you had more than one child, you were given contraception before having a tubal ligation as a woman. That meant you could still be intimate with your significant other while trying to stay within the concept of the law.

2. Multiple births were permitted under the one child policy. Parents in China were not forced to give one of their children up for adoption if they had twins. All multiple births were recognized as being part of the legal household without experiencing a penalty. Families might not have been eligible for a financial incentive to have just one child in this situation, but it was a way for many to experience the joys of a larger family like they wanted without being forced to pay significant fines for the privilege.

Couples that wanted more than one child found that the cost of the fertility medication that could increase their odds of having twins or triplets was significantly less than the fines they would pay for having two separate pregnancies.

3. The one child policy helped to transform the role that women play in Chinese society. Because families were authorized to have only one child as part of their family composition, the role of girls and women began to grow in China. Before the policy, men received a preponderance of the educational chances and career ventures from their family. Women were expected to take care of their residences and relationships unless exceptionally talented in some way.

After the implementation of the one child policy, families with one girl registered their children in school programs more often. They sought vocational learning possibilities not allowed by the unwritten practices of the past. This process allowed an entire generation of girls to enjoy a quality of life much greater than seen in the past – including the time before Communism.

4. There were financial benefits to consider for families under the one child policy. Even if you set aside the 5 yuan financial benefit for families that only had a single child in their household, this structure helped to create more economic stability at the local level. Parents could afford more educational and vocational opportunities because there was only one child to support. Schedules were easier to manage, care needs became simple to schedule, and there would still be friends to make in each community.

Critics of the policy suggest that kids growing up as an only child would be lonely, more anxious, bitter, and deal with a lot of repressed anger. Missing the unknown idea of having a brother or sister is also problematic. Is it better to provide more opportunities, or is it better to avoid potential emotional pitfalls?

5. There were additional benefits for only having one child that went beyond money. If you were granted a certificate which verified that you only had one child living with you, then there were several societal benefits awarded to your household. Some families received extra allowances of land for farming because of their compliance, which sometimes even included a free home. There were awards of free water for irrigation and consumption. Higher pensions, better government jobs, and priority services at the local hospital were sometimes included.

Students were even given extra points on their tests while in elementary school because of this unique socioeconomic policy.

6. The one child policy offered numerous exemptions that families could use. Although the public perception was that the one child policy applied to all families, that was not the case. If you lived in an area designated as being rural, then you could have at least two children in China – and sometimes more if you had significant agricultural work to do. Families from a designated ethnic minority could have up to three children during this period in Chinese history.

There were also several exceptions in place that would allow couples to have more children, including birth defects, physical or learning disabilities, or unexpected tragedies. If a family unit was composed of a mother and father who both came from an only child household, then the government had the discretion to permit a second child for them as well.

7. More jobs became available in China because of this policy. Because the one child policy in China prevented up to 400 million births, there are now more employment opportunities available for everyone in the country. Each person has less competition to fight through when trying to land a great job. If an only child applies for a position that someone from a multi-child household wants, then they’ll get the top priority for filling the spot.

Having a 117:100 ratio for men vs. women also means that families had a better opportunity to change their financial situation. Men were the primary income earners for much of the one child generation, which meant fewer food shortages, less poverty, and better educational options for the next generation.

List of the Disadvantages of the One Child Policy

1. It created mandatory contraception and sterilization policies. As part of the one child policy in China, women were required to have a contraceptive intrauterine device installed surgically after having their first child. This product offers a 99% success rate at preventing a pregnancy, so it was effective at controlling the population levels of the country. If a woman were to have a second child, then the government forced her to have a tubal ligation procedure.

Over 320 million Chinese women were fitted with intrauterine devices under this policy between 1980-2014. Another 108 women were forced to undergo sterilization with a tubal ligation. The men were much luckier, often being told to pay a fine for their activities instead.

2. This policy created a disparity in the gender ratio at birth in China. The gender ratio of newborn infants in mainland China reached 117 to 100 for boys vs. girls born, which was about 10% higher than the global baseline. It rose from 108:100 in 1981, which was the boundary of the natural baseline. That means there are 30 million more men than women in this generation of Chinese citizens, which could create significant socioeconomic issues for their country.

The reason for this disparity was a desire to have boys so that the family line could continue on. This option was not available for women at the time of this policy, and it is still incredibly rare for girls to have the same family rights as men with regards to inheritance.

3. There may be social issues because of the unusual gender ratio. China has already admitted that having between 32 million to 36 million more men than expected in their society could result in several social problems developing in the country over the years. There are tens of millions of young men who may be unable to find a future bride. The government is concerned that this may lead to higher levels of social unrest, sex trafficking, kidnapping, and other forms of criminal conduct so that intimacy can be an experience for them in some way.

4. It caused many parents to give up their children for adoption or abandon them. When parents had an unauthorized second birth or wanted a son, but had a daughter, then giving up the child for adoption became a financial strategy for them under the one child policy. Adoptions of daughters accounted for more than 50% of the “missing girls” that were not on census documents in the country. Starting in 1991, the Chinese government raised the penalties for additional children and levied them on those who even chose to adopt.

This action caused over 120,000 children who were abandoned to find hope in adoption with over 120,000 international parents.

5. This policy caused couples to seek fertility counseling when none was needed. One of the unique aspects of the one child policy was that it was more of a “one pregnancy policy” with its implementation. If a mother were to have a multiples birth, then they would not be penalized for the extra child or forced to give all but one up for adoption. Twins, triplets, and higher were allowed to stay with their parents. That means more families started using fertility medication as a way to have more kids legally. Between the start of this policy and 2006, the rate of multiple births doubled.

6. Families had little or no support left to them after death. When an only child has both of their parents pass away at any age, it changes their concept of family. There was no longer the possibility of being able to manage many of the social needs of this society because of tragic incidents that occurred. It was not unusual for parents to become over-protective of their children to prevent loss, including a reduction in extra-curricular or after-school activities so that they wouldn’t need to apply to the government to receive an exception to have another child.

7. The cost of adoptions in China rose because of the one child policy. Because parents were no longer allowed to adopt children if they had one of their own under these guidelines, state-run orphanages began to pop up around the country to support the increasing numbers of unwanted children. Even when there was family nearby to care for the child, the imposition of financial penalties made it all but impossible for everyone to stay together. It was not unusual for over 90% of the population of these facilities to be girls because of the emphasis to have boys in the culture.

China recognized the gender discrepancies that were forming in their society, so they worked hard to make it more challenging for girls to leave through international adoption. Unless you were wealthy, it was impossible to finalize the legal processes in the later years of the one child policy unless you agreed to live there.

8. It created care burdens for aging parents that some children are still trying to manage. This disadvantage is the primary reason why China eventually moved back to a two-child policy. When there was only one child in a household, the financial burden of taking care of aging parents made it a challenge to improve the standard of living at almost every level of society. Many families found themselves forced to live with both sets of grandparents, becoming 3- and 4-generation households as a way to share the burden of the issue.

Even with this shift in emphasis, charitable requests continued to rise over the life of the one child policy in China. There was an increase in the number of dependency applications the government processed as well. It was such a problem in some regions that families who could prove this hardship were often given permission to have extra kids.

9. The Chinese government enforced the one child policy inconsistently. There were over 2,000 government officials in one province that violated the one child policy without any formal punishment. Then there were people like Zhang Yimou, who received a fine of more than $1 million for the number of children that he had with various women. Some rural districts were implementing financial penalties that equaled six times the annual salary of the household if it was discovered there was an extra child present, yet it didn’t levy this punishment on anyone in a government job in some instances.

This disadvantage led to high levels of resistance throughout Chinese culture. Calls for reform were briefly quashed until the scientific research regarding this policy showed that there were several future problems that might occur if it were allowed to continue.

10. Chinese nationals would leave the country to have children. Some families attempted to travel to Hong Kong as a way to avoid the potential penalty of having more than one child. Women in China were paying over $50,000 to have another child in the United States to avoid the problems with this policy. Any location that granted immediate citizenship to a child born in the country, especially the U.S., would provide a favorable status for the family back in China. That mean the risks of receiving a devastating consequence were severely minimized if the efforts were successful.

11. Families were forced to register their children to aunts and uncles. Because the government would issue fines that were 2-6 times the amount of a person’s annual salary as a social services fee for an additional child, some parents went to great lengths to protect their children and avoid potential legal consequences. If there was a sibling living overseas, then the family could assign that child to the individual, knowing that they weren’t planning on returning to China.

Although it seems like an advantage since the child could stay in the home, it limited the traveling opportunities for families. If the assigned sibling did return home, then the government would assign the child to them – creating the potential of an indefinite separation.

12. The one child policy targeted the urban poor more than anyone. Most of the wealthy families in China would simply pay the fine for having more than one child, and then they would move on with their lives. This disadvantage was especially prevalent in cities like Shanghai or Beijing. If you weren’t in the middle class, then there were numerous risks that you faced.

If you were unable to pay the fine for an additional child, then you could have your property seized. There were other actions, including jail time, that were possible in extreme circumstances. That’s why families either hid their additional child or decided to abandon them.

13. It violates UN policies on reproductive rights. It is true that the government has a say in the social planning needs of their nation. There is also a need for these representatives to protect the rights that we feel are fundamental to the human experience. Since 1968, the United Nations has declared that family planning and reproductive rights, including how many children to have, should be part of each household’s decision-making process.

Instead of looking at ways to encourage parents to be responsible with their family planning needs, the Chinese government forced the process on would-be parents. By not allowing parents to make the best possible decision for their household, China could arguably be in violation of this agreement.

14. It created a financial burden for the government. In some parts of China, up to 4% of the GDP was being spent each year on enforcement policies and procedures for the one child policy. Even when families were caught and paying their required fines, the 4 billion yuan spent annually was never fully recouped in any situation. This disadvantage may be why there was such a disparity in the enforcement of the policy. By creating financial burdens to the government, Chinese interests would always have access to cheap labor for those who chose to violate the policy.

Verdict on the Advantages and Disadvantages of the One Child Policy

China eventually gave up on the one child policy because of the many disadvantages that they faced with its implementation. Starting in January 2016, the nation is now using a universal two-child policy that applies to each household. Even though 76% of Chinese nationals said that they supported the concept of government-based family planning, the use of forced sterilization, contraception, and abortions to ensure compliance was highly controversial in the rest of the world.

More than 50% of households in China from 1979-2015 qualified to have a second child because of their status, including being part of an ethnic minority.

The advantages and disadvantages of the one child policy may have prevented hundreds of millions of births that could have caused problems for the Chinese economy, but there are lessons to be learned from this process as well. Instead of forcing people into situations where a birth rate reduction becomes necessary, education and awareness can produce similar results.

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China’s One-Child Policy, Essay Example

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Often we must change and adapt to the trials we encounter; yet small changes can be very difficult. I remember as a child, when I complained that I could not master the art of playing the piano. My teacher brought over a flower pot and asked me what I saw. I told her that it was a bamboo plant. She explained to me that it was not just a bamboo plant. She made me look closely at how the plant had twisted in turned itself in the way she had guided it. There were many different shape patterns that had been formed through her manipulation. She explained to me that if the plant was unable to change or adapt, it would only break. She said that playing the piano and living life was much like this. Most people do not realize that bamboo is actually a type of grass. It has a variety of uses, grows fast, (about two-inches per hour) is very versatile, has a woody stem, and is a perennial. Bamboo has become popular worldwide because of its versatility and ecological benefits. Bamboo is for many things from food to furniture. This plant helps to protect the environment and clean the air. It has been estimated that some bamboo plants can release at least 35 percent or more oxygen than other types of trees. Its branches can help lower the intensity of the sun by blocking its ultraviolent rays. Bamboo is also good at conserving soil. Its roots are used to protect against erosion in some areas. Bamboo is a great way to sustain riverbanks and wind barrier. Bamboo is a renewable resource. Once it is planted, it will produce new shoots each year. The Bamboo stems are tough and durable-So much so, they are often substituted for wood. Bamboo can grow anywhere except Antarctica. It can adapt to many different climatic settings. Bamboo is representative of my hometown and family because of its versatility and ability to grow even in dire situations.

Bamboo belongs to the kingdom plantae, which means plants and is a member of the subkingdom tracheobionta, which means vascular plants. It can be placed further in the superdivision spermatophyte, which means seed plants. It is in the division magnoliophyta, or flowering plants and the class liliopsida, monocotyledons. Bambo is in the subclass commelinidae and the order cyperales. Bambo also belongs to the family poaceae, also known as the grass family. It is in the genus of bambusa schreb, which translates to bamboo.

I believe the bamboo plants represent my hometown because it displays so much versatility. In order to understand this statement, one has to know something about the history and struggle of the Chinese people. The beginning of the Cultural Revolution also known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, dates back to the early 1960s. This movement took place after the Great Leap Forward, a period of active government where more than 20 million people died. During this time Vice-Chairman Li Shaoqi and Premier Zhou Enlai wanted to assume a less active and dominant role in governing the country. They wanted to offer economic reforms based on individual incentives. One incentive was to allow families the opportunity to farm their own land. These actions were detested by more conservative members. Nonetheless, China’s economy grew greatly from 1962-1965as a result of individual incentives.  The Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 was compound social turmoil that stemmed from the struggle between Mao Zedong and other party leaders in efforts to control the Chinese Communist Party.

The Cultural Revolution in China was one of the most multifaceted events in China’s history. Every member of Chinese society was involved and somehow affected by the revolution. Although Mao initiated the movement, it took on its identity. Mao used many manipulation tasks when dealing with the people of China, but during the movement people saw that as an opportunity to express themselves. The Cultural Revolution went through many stages, but the most violent ones were the first two years. Mao even called upon school age students to join in the movement. The widespread violence during the Cultural Revolution was the most unsettling. China had suffered brutality and violence before, but never to the extent of the Cultural Revolution. Students revolted within educational institutions and led to violence. Libraries were burned and schools were vandalized. The violence was so rampant that the military patrolled the streets followed by body trucks looking for the remains of the dead. “The suicide rate drastically increased as people escape persecution jumped from building, drank insecticide and would lie across train tracks, or throw themselves in front of cars”  (  Schoenhals, p. 566  ).  Also, many people died during the Revolution due to illnesses that went untreated due to the refusal of medical facilities to give aid to counter revolutionaries. Fowler said, “Everyone in China was affected; everyone knew someone who had died” (Fowler, p. 1329   ). Yet, China is one of the most prosperous and striving nations. The Chinese people are just as versatile as the bamboo plant.

One negative characteristic of Bamboo is that it spreads through underground runners called rhizomes. This allows for the plant to continue spreading even without visibility. This allows for the bamboo to take over a large area in a very short amount of time. The bamboo trees grow so densely that it can smother other ground level plants. I think this is very similar to my hometown and the Chinese people because the population there has grown so fast. China is one of the most populous countries in the world. For example, in the early 20 th century, Chinese government was baffled about the fast rate at which the population was growing. The one child policy was enacted in 1979 and is currently in effect. The policy is enforced through incentives such as health care, educational opportunities, job and housing opportunities, and disincentives for violators of the policy. Violators face fines, loss of educational access, and other privileges. Nonetheless, the policy has never been uniformly enforced throughout China. Initially, the goal of this policy was to ensure that the Chinese population remained under 1.2 billion. This goal was intended to be met by promotion of contraception and forced sterilizations.  After carefully examining the risks and benefits China’s one child policy, it is believed that a new two-child approach is the best alternative for the future of China.

The one child policy has caused negative demographic consequences. The one child policy had estimated that China’s population would be reduced by more than 300 million in the first twenty years (Mosher, p. 90). Although it has decreased the population, it has created a high sex imbalance with males unequally outnumbering females. The one child policy has also been linked to sex-selective abortions, infanticide, and other social safety problems. There are many speculations about what is happening to the girls in Chinese society. For example

“Medical advancements and technology have played a key role in creating this surplus of boys. The Chinese government contracted with GE to provide cart-mounted ultrasound that could be run on generators so that the most obscure village had access to fetal sex determination. Given the ability to know the sex of their unborn  children , many parents’ aborted female fetuses. Sadly, such abortions do not account for all of the missing girls in China” (Short, p. 282).

Many regulations attempt to guard against sex determination abortion, but evidence shows that there has been an increase in the use of ultrasound B machines, which determines the sex of fetuses (Short, p. 283). The use of ultrasound technology for abortion purposes is illegal, but it is speculated that sex selected abortions account for the great decline in female births (Wan, Fan, & Lin, p. 389). In rural areas, many families simply hide their female children or give them to nearby families in order to avoid reporting the births. Sadly, some girls are just abandoned and left to die (Zilberberg, p. 518).

Having to overcome odds like these are astounding. There are many families that have had to make a choice between having or aborting a baby based upon its sex. Mental and emotional healths are issues that are commonly ignored in Chinese society because disclosure of personal problems publicly has been frowned upon for years. Consequently, data on the mental health of adolescents is very scarce. However, in recent years studies have emerged documenting mental issues that children of the one child policy are encountering. A study was conducted on 266 Chinese adolescents who were products of the one child policy. The researchers used the Beck Depression Inventory and discovered that about 65 percent of the children screened meet the criteria for depressed. About 10 percent of them were in the severely depressed range. Girls were also more likely to show traits of depression than only child’s who were male (Chen, Rubin, & Li, p. 940). Psychologists believe that the increased incidences of depression and anxiety can be directly linked to the increased pressure that is placed upon female only children. According to Fong, gender directly affects a person’s experience in society. This idea is based upon feminist perspective. Accordingly, females experience the world in a different manner than males do. From birth, females have been expected and taught to behave a certain way due to cultural norms. However, due to the one child policy, many women are expected to confront the unwritten rules they have been taught to live by.

The Chinese people and my hometown are so representative of the Bamboo plant because they have been able to overcome so many obstacles over the years. I guess it wasn’t until years later when I was no longer a part of the environment, until I was able to understand just how difficult life had been for my family. Both my parents were affected by the child policies in China, and were determined that no matter how many fees they had to pay, they were going to have whatever gender and how many children they were blessed with. For this I am very thankful. There are several negative side effects of the one-child policy. China does not have a national social security plan. Taking care of the older generations will fall upon the one-child generation. This is what my father experienced because he was an only child. Persons over the age of 65 currently make up about 25 percent of the population. Consequently, a one child will be responsible for taking care of four grandparents and two parents. This has become known as the “4:2:1 problem”. Another negative consequence is what has grown to be called the “Little Emperor Syndrome”, which discusses the psychological effects the one-child policy has on the children. These children have been called the spoiled generation because they are doted by parents and grandparents. My mother can be called a little emperor. As a child, she suffered from obesity. The rise in childhood obesity has been linked to this syndrome. One in every five Chinese children is obese (Zhan, 2004). China has been traditionally known for great health and dietary practices.  My parents are just like the bamboo plant because they were willing to maneuver around and bend to make the best possible life for their children. Like the bamboo, they had to be aggressive and force their way into society and take what they felt was theirs. Often they had to break rules and face possible retaliation. I see them as the bamboo plant traveling and growing underground right under the eyes of those watching, but never being noticed.

Some people view the aggressiveness of the Chinese people as negative characteristics, but you must understand all of the oppressions and mental anguish they have endured. So, now that they have the opportunity to do the things they have never been able to do in the past, they are aggressively trying to be the best. The bamboo is so aggressive that it will stamp out the life of other surrounding plants. However, because of its versatility, anyone who plants the bamboo really has all that they need in the lines of plants. It helps replenish oxygen, can shade the owners and help block out harmful UV rays, and some people even eat the shoots as a nutritious meal.

Works Cited

Chen, X., Rubin, K.H., & Li, D. (1995). Depressed mood in Chinese children: Relations with school performance and family environment. J ournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63 , 938-947.

Fowler, Erin Malia.  An exploration of the life experiences of the survivors of China’s Cultural Revolution … US: ProQuest Information & Learning.   69(2-B), 2008.  p. 1323-1330.

Mosher, S. W. (2006). Winter. China’s One-Child Policy: Twenty-Five Years Later. The Human Life Review : 76-101.

Schoenhals, Michael. Unofficial and Official Histories of the Cultural Revolution—A Review Article , The Journal of Asian Studies 48 (1989): 563-570

Short, S. E., M. Linmao, et al. (2000). Birth Planning and Sterilization in China. Population Studies 54 (3): 279-291.

Wan, C., C. Fan, and G. Lin. (1994). A Comparative Study of Certain Differences in Individuality and Sex-Based Differences Between 5- And 7-Years Old Only Children and Non Only Children. Acta Psychological Sinica 16 : 383-391.

Zhan, H. J. 2004. “Socialization or Social Structure: Investigating Predictors of Attitudes Toward

Filial Responsibility Among Chinese Urban Youth From One and Multiple Child Families.” International Journal of Aging and Human

Zilberberg, J. (2007). Sex Selection and Restricting Abortion and Sex Determination. Bioethics 21 (9):517-519.

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Writing Strong Titles

by acburton | Apr 25, 2024 | Resources for Students , Writing Resources

You’ve finished your paper, and all that’s left is your title. What do you name the essay you’ve just worked tirelessly on, for days, sometimes even weeks to put together? Should it be long or something shorter? Should you prioritize grasping your readers attention or encapsulating the major themes of your essay? These are all questions that the Writing Center is here to help with!

First Things First: Why Do We Need Titles?

Titles serve as the first point of contact between readers and your written work. They serve to inform readers about what your work will be about and clarify how it is relevant to others’ work or research. All of these things work to engage readers, compelling their curiosity and interest!

What Approaches Can I Take to Create Effective and Engaging Titles?

1. Hook Your Reader

Students often start with this consideration when working to formulate the title of their paper. To ‘hook your reader’, think about what you find most interesting about your own research and something new or enticing that you will be sharing. Convey this to your reader.

2. Keep it Concise, but Make it Informative

An essential aspect that works alongside ‘hooking’ your reader is making sure that your title is concise. While “one-part” titles can prioritize being creative or descriptive (check out our example below!), “two-part” titles, those that may use a colon to present two parallel ideas, can run the risk of being too long to grasp and hold your reader’s attention. A good rule of thumb is to aim to keep your “two-part” titles no longer than two lines. Whichever you choose, either “one part” or “two part”, you’ll want to be sure that your title serves as one method for your reader to predict what your paper will be about. While you don’t want to give everything away, your title shouldn’t be too far off from what your paper will demonstrate.

3. Consider Your Audience

Much like you did when writing the work that you are now striving to title, consider your audience. The words and phrases you choose to incorporate should be reflective of the discipline you are writing for and should not include terminology that, whoever may be reading it, won’t be able to grasp. Contemplate if using more general language would be more effective for your reader (especially if your work may be attractive to readers outside of your discipline) or if more precise or specific language is more appropriate for your goal (e.g., an academic publication or journal).

4. Incorporate Keywords

One of the simplest ways to get started on your title is by incorporating keywords. Think about it; what does your work focus on? What terms are being used often? How are they being used (e.g., in comparison or in contrast to other terms)? Incorporating keywords into your title not only serves to provide you a great place to start, but can also help get your work to a wider audience! Take the time to think about how you might get your work to show up in search engines when curious readers want to know more about a subject.

5. Reflect the Tone of Your Writing

Depending on the genre or discipline, your title should aim to follow the style, tone, or slant of the work it precedes. For example, if you are writing non-scholarly work for the Humanities, you may find that a more lighthearted, fun, or inventive title may work for the topic at hand. In contrast, STEM papers may focus on using specific language, or a tone that lets the reader know that their work is contemplative, veracious, or, in other words, no laughing matter. Take note, again, of your audience and what it is that you want your reader to feel or take away as they navigate your writing.

Below, you’ll see how these considerations work alongside your decision to create those one or two-part titles discussed earlier.

For a Compelling, Thoughtful Title, You Might Try…

A “one-part” title that prioritizes either..

• Example: “ RENT’ s Tango With Your Emotions”
• Example: “An Analysis of Modernism in Larson’s Melodramatic Musical”

STEM papers or reports traditionally have a descriptive title. Creative projects, like short stories, often have creative titles.

A “two-part” title:

• Creative Introductory Clause: Descriptive, Specific Topic
• Example: “RENT’s Tango With Your Emotions: An Analysis of Modernism in Larson’s Melodramatic Musical”

Although seen much more often in STEM writing, scholarly work in the Humanities, Arts, or Social Sciences may have a two-part title.

How Do We Format Essay Titles?

Formal titles follow Title Case Formatting ; this type of formatting includes capitalizing the first word, the last word, and every significant word in between. For example:

• T ransgressive T ekken : P layer E xpression and P articipatory C ulture in the K orean B ackdash

Helpful Hint!

To write stronger titles, avoid starting with a question. While this may draw your reader in, it may also leave them feeling disinterested in reading further to find the answer. Similarly, avoid exaggerating your work through your title. Be honest with your reader on what to expect going forward. Visit us at the Writing Center for help brainstorming a fantastic title or polishing up an existing one!

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Seven Facts About the Economics of Child   Care

Those who care for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities are vital for the healthy functioning of our economy. Access to affordable, high-quality care allows individuals to enter the labor force , reduce absenteeism at work, and retain more of their income to spend on basic necessities like food and housing.

The Biden-Harris Administration has demonstrated its commitment to supporting affordable care through direct investments such as the American Rescue Plan, the CHIPS and Science Act, and each of its annual Budgets. On the one-year anniversary of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers , this blog focuses on child care specifically, highlighting seven reasons the economics of child care necessitate policy interventions like those enacted and proposed by the Biden-Harris administration to make high-quality, affordable care available to more working families.

1.  The provision of child care is currently at an inefficiently low level. While the benefits of high-quality childcare extend to the entire society, the financial burden is primarily borne by individual families. This scenario is an example of what economists call positive externalities: longer-term benefits to society beyond what’s captured in today’s costs to families. It thus presents a textbook case for public subsidies for child care provision because relying on families alone to foot the bill will lead to the under-provision of care. First, access to high-quality care enhances academic outcomes for the children who receive it, but also those of their future classmates ( Neidell and Waldfogel, 2010 ). Second, reductions in criminality associated with high-quality child care have large societal cost-savings ( Anders et al., 2023 ). Third, a large literature links increased maternal labor supply to access to childcare (see Morrissey, 2017 for an overview). This not only improves outcomes for mothers affected, but also enlarges the labor pool, benefiting local businesses and the economy broadly. In fact, indicative of benefits for businesses, private companies are increasingly providing child care benefits to their workers as a strategy to retain talent and reduce absenteeism at work.

2.  The child care business model has been historically unsustainable. The child care market is a decentralized patchwork of providers caring for children in homes, centers, and schools. While this varied landscape helps to provide families the flexibility to choose the early care and education (ECE) options that best meet their needs, challenges in the market lead to a persistent gap between the cost of providing high-quality care and prices that families can afford. On the supply side, businesses struggle to invest in quality improvements such as increased compensation for staff or lower child-to-educator ratios while charging rates that families can afford. On the demand side, families face liquidity constraints given that child care costs are more likely to come at a time when parents are in the early and relatively unstable years of their careers. This mismatch leads to underprovided high-quality child care relative to demand from families (Figure 1): in 2019, over three-quarters  of households that searched for care for their young children in the same year had difficulty finding care that met their needs.

3.   Child care costs have been growing rapidly ; wages for child care workers remain low.  Child care prices rose 210 percent—nearly three times as fast as the overall price index (74 percent)—from 1990 to 2019. While child care worker pay has seen recent increases , the median pay for a child care worker in 2022 was still under $30,000 per year . Persistently low wage prospects make attracting and retaining workers difficult, and issues with recruitment and retention can limit the supply of high-quality care, as discussed above. Public subsidies on the demand and supply sides of the market—such as those enacted through the American Rescue Plan and highlighted in fact 7 of this blog—can target issues of cost and pay, allowing providers to invest in often costly, high-quality improvements such as worker compensation without raising prices faced by consumers.

4.   Low-income families face the greatest cost burdens .   Families are often burdened with the cost of child care when they can least afford it: early in parents’ careers when incomes are lowest and they are saddled with other major expenses like mortgages and student loans. This makes borrowing against future savings to pay for child care difficult, limiting families’ ability to smooth their consumption. Costs are especially salient for low-income families, who tend to spend a greater share of their take-home income on necessities. Another stressor on those incomes—such as child care—makes it difficult for families to afford necessities like food and shelter. Due to cost and other access issues, low-income households also have the hardest time finding care: over 70 percent of children in households with income between $20,001 and $40,000 that searched for child care reported some difficulty finding it in 2019. Importantly, while many lower-income households would likely qualify for subsidized care, capacity constraints often mean that participation among eligible families is low. Figure 3 shows the potential cost savings among families that do receive these benefits (comparing the green and blue bars); unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that in 2019, only one in six children eligible for care benefits received them.

5.  Investments in quality childcare produce enormous returns for children. The long-run benefits associated with high-quality early educational experiences means that the return on these types of investments are often high: estimates of the long-run benefits of high-quality child care find a $7 to $12 return on every $1 invested in high-quality programs ( Heckman et al. 2010 ). Investments in quality care support children’s healthy development and early learning from birth, which lead to longer-term benefits for individuals and families that can spill over to their communities and the economy more broadly. The long-term, positive effects of child care programs on outcomes like educational attainment, employment, and earnings have been thoroughly and rigorously demonstrated in the research literature ( Heckman et al. 2010 ; Duncan and Magnuson 2013 ; Gray-Lobe, Pathak, and Walters 2023 ).

6.  Access to quality, affordable childcare allows parents to remain in the workforce. Despite record levels of female labor force participation in 2023, data suggest that working mothers tend to take on a disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities, scaling back hours in the workplace or leaving the workforce altogether for extended periods of time. Employment changes like these can negatively impact a woman’s lifetime earnings and career trajectory. CEA analysis of Current Population Survey data found that, among employed mothers of children under age six, 27 percent are working part-time compared to 11 percent of employed fathers of young children and 21 percent of all employed women. On the anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, the CEA published a blog highlighting the challenges remaining for women in the labor market and the role that care burdens play in gender-based wage gaps across the income distribution.

7.  Federal funding through the American Rescue Plan has played an important role in stabilizing the child care industry. Finally, recent work from the CEA has highlighted how Biden-Harris Administration action has benefitted paid and unpaid caregivers: improving the economic prospects of workers—as reflected in wages and employment—and allowing individuals with care-giving responsibilities to participate more equally and fully in the labor market. This funding succeeded in slowing cost growth for families over a period when overall inflation was accelerating, stabilizing employment and increasing wages for child care workers—a group disproportionately comprised of women, and whose wages are historically close to minimum wages— and increasing maternal labor force participation. In short, these funds were key to stabilizing the industry during an uncertain time, and the analysis highlights the power of federal funding to expand access to care for families while improving the wages and employment prospects of care workers.

The Administration has continued to uplift the importance of care and supporting care workers through the Executive Action , rulemaking , and Budget processes. This Care Workers Recognition month, we can all thank a caregiver in our life, acknowledging how their work transcends the individual or community by generating benefits that better the economy for everyone.

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