Historical Context
The one child policy, also known as the family planning policy, may have decreased China’s population but it also has caused a huge toll on the rights and responsibilities of the Chinese society. Once the People’s Republic of China improved sanitation and mastered medicine people felt more comfortable reproducing. At one point officials of China even promoted reproducing, thinking that the more people they had, the stronger their country would be. This plan eventually backfired and just made things worse for China. This caused a rapid population growth in China. Soon the Republic of China realized their high population was getting out of hand. They tried minor changes like condemning birth control and even banning imports of contraceptives, but that was unsuccessful. Eventually, they discovered that this strategy wasn’t working as quickly as they wanted it to.
|
Population growth was effecting their limited food supply and space. So in 1979, China had no choice but to imply the one child policy. The one child policy limited couples to only one child or two if both parents were an only children. Many couples were forced into abortion and sterilization. Even if one tried to rebel against this outrageous law, the outcome was most likely a jail sentence or fine. This policy even had a huge effect on sex discrimination. With ultrasound test and abortions more popular, people used them to their advantage. Female infanticide became a huge matter with boys being culturally preferable for labor and work. This problem caused an enormous gender imbalance. China still has thirty-two million more boys than girls under the age of twenty. This issue became such a problem that China had to ban prenatal screening. This policy was said to be short-term 30 years ago, but it is still in place to this day.
|