NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
China s One-Child Policy: An Economic Perspective on Governmental Control In 1979, China implemented a one-child per family policy in order to address the issue of unchecked population growth for a country with limited resources. Because China is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, concern for the issue of overpopulation and the capacity of the Chinese government to address the needs of such an overwhelming population directed the impetus for the implementation of the policy. Since it s inception, critics have argued different elements of the policy. Although it has been recognized that the policy as a whole has been moderately successful in reducing population and in maintaining population stability for the government, there are other factors that have also influenced the notion of economic efficacy, including increasing rates of infanticide and increasing adoption of female children. (Li, 1995).
Though there have been recognizable reductions in the overall population of the country since the application of the regulation, this reduction is not the only factor that impacts the economic picture during this time frame. It should be noted that increasing populations at state-run orphanages has resulted in additional expenditures for these services. At the same time, decreasing efficacy in the agrarian sector related to the diminishing populations in rural communities has brought to light another issue with the existing policy. But in order to understand the complexities of the economic impacts, it is first necessary to consider the impetus for regulation, the development of the policies, and the long-term economic implications that are link to this process. Skyrocketing populations rates and a consistent level of gross national product in China in the late 1980 s resulted in the perspective that at the continued rate of growth, economic failure for China was certain. At the same time, it was also recognized that increasing population growth in the urban regions of the country was also creating considerable problems in meeting the employment and services needs of such a large population.
The belief that the implementation of population control measures by the government would effectively address population reductions and impact the economic status of the country were the defining elements that led to the development of the one-child per family policy determination. It should be recognized that the process of maintaining a workable population in China was difficult to perceive, but the impacts of the one-child policy have been recognizable. China is expected to control its population to below 1. 3 billion people by the year 2, 000, with an expected maintained growth rate of 9. 78 per thousand or a net increase of 12. 11 million people (Anonymous, 1997). At the onset of planning for the national policy, it was recognized that if control measures were not taken that the population of China could have rounded out at almost 2 billion people at the turn of the century, creating considerable economic and governmental hardships for a country that already has demonstrated problems with addressing the widespread needs of the people as a whole.
The imperative for quick but substantial response to the problem of overpopulation required the government to implement measures that impacted the totality of Chinese society, and there was clearly a level of social equity designed in the generalized policy of China s one-child policy. Jiang Zhenghua, the vice minister of the State Family Planning Commission of China has explained the one-child policy a number of times since its implementation, often relating the regulation in terms of the nature of Chinese society, the elements of Chinese philosophy that often place the welfare of the country over individual interests, and the importance of the regulation in maintaining an effective economic base for the country (Wandi, 1997). It is Jiang Zhenghua s contention that the country s population policy was designed not to violate the rights of individuals, but to assert the necessity for control in maintaining the efficacy of the country (Wandi, 1997). The major problem recognized at the onset of designing the regulation was the fact that urban populations has not only grown past previous projections, but that increasing urban poverty was making the maintenance and economic effectiveness of an urban workforce even more problematic. Even with economic improvements and greater levels of international trade, the astronomical increased in population could not be accounted for within the existing planning measures. As a result, there was a clear need to reduce the existing level of population growth and improve the urban conditions in order for economic improvements to become a reality.
One of the major cultural beliefs that assisted in promoting the development of the regulation, which essentially limits the number of surviving children born to each family to a single child, and provides punitive fines and penalties for families who violate the regulation, is the belief within Chinese culture that a country with larger space is actually better able to provide for the needs of the individuals and increase the capacity for opportunities for development (Wandi, 1997). This belief, based in the notion of an agrarian identity, underscores the acceptability of the policy even though western evaluations suggest that the policy inherently violates the notion of human rights (Rosenberg and Jing, 1996). The structure of the policy that was designed under China s communist regime limited births to one per family, and unless couples obtained official permits, they were not supposed to have a child (Anonymous (a), 1996). If women became pregnant without a permit, they were obliged to have an abortion, and this drew mixed sentiments regarding the moral implications of the policy (Anonymous (a), 1996).
During the late 1980 s, after considerable opposition, some leniency was injected into the policy application, and rural couples whose first child was born a girl, were given the provision of bearing a second child, with the hope and expectation that they would have a son (Anonymous (a), 1996). At the same time that greater leniency was offered for rural couples with older female children, greater efforts at enforcement resulted in the fining of populations hardest hit by economic problems: those in rural communities with an agrarian base. Evaluations of China s population control policy suggest that it is both coercive and inhumane and that it has had an wholly negative impact on the peasant populations in China (Anonymous (a), 1996). The policy in general, though the Chinese government has gone to great lengths to deny this fact, has met with considerable opposition from the Chinese peasant populations, who despite the treat of heavy financial and punitive damages, continue to bear children after their officially permitted limit (Anonymous (a), 1996). There are clearly competing social perspectives that have impacted the compliance to the regulation: the perspective presented by Jiang Zhenghua is generally limited to urban populations, and is not representative of the beliefs within the peasant populations, who depend upon the bearing of male children to carry on their agrarian legacy (Anonymous (a), 1996). In the Hunan Province, for example, in south-central China, the local cadres were charged with implementing the unpopular and restrictive regulation, but were caught between the desire to support their fellow villagers and the strong demands of the governmental authorities (Anonymous (a), 1996).
As a result, many frequently turned a blind eye to the abandonment of infant girls and instead, focused on making sure that couples ended up with more than the authorized number of children (Anonymous (a), 1996). It is not surprising, then, that widespread increases in participation levels at state-run welfare programs for abandoned children has reflected this growing trend (Anonymous (a), 1996). The welfare programs have cost the country significantly, they are also less costly to the economic and environmental elements, especially considering that many do not survive in these government programs. Critics have argued that China s leaders consider the female children (and handicapped children) in these program to be surplus population and that the death of orphans is not a regrettable situation, because in general it reduces the population growth within a population that is both unwanted and unproductive (Bogart and Wehrfritz, 1996) Though China s one-child family planning program has determined reductions in the birth rate, there are also definitive costs that must be weighed into the process of considering the efficacy of this regulation. Though there are clear economic impacts that will result from reductions in population as China moves into the 21 st century, there is a clear need to weigh costs and evaluate the efficacy of the policy in urban and rural settings.
Evaluations of the effectiveness and economic issues of the one-child policy suggest that there is a differentiation in effectiveness and economic impacts related to the specificity of populations. For example, women in urban populations who have registered as workers are easier to track and determine compliance than the majority of women who live in agrarian peasant communities and who demonstrate a greater desire to bear a son based on cultural perspectives (Li, 1995). Though women in urban populations appear willing to accept the constraints of the policy, women in urban populations, recognizing their necessity to provide a male heir to carry on the family farming operation, frequently chose to violate public policy and bear more than one child (Li, 1995). The conflict that exists on an economic level is based on the fact that agrarian farming communities have long based their essential operations in the passing of farms from father to son. The operation of these farms necessitates the need to produce a son in each agrarian family, in order to carry on with the family operations, support the overall efficacy of farming communities, and support the provisions for urban populations through the maintenance of this base. For a country whose economic efficacy is deeply rooted in their agrarian communities, it is evident that the issues surrounding this regulation are complex and have cultural underpinnings.
The greater leniency for rural families was one of the elements that was expected to support the economic prospects for the country while still maintaining reproductive control (Anonymous (b), 1996). The perceptions of this leniency have had limited attention, especially as families struggle to determine the efficacy of their farming operations with reproductive limitations. It should also be recognized that many villagers in rural communities recognize the dangers of overpopulation, based in the limited land mass, and the limited economics to support greater public expansion, and the limited natural resources (Anonymous (b), 1996). As populations grow, land becomes increasingly scarce and more expensive, and new houses are built were family farms once existed (Anonymous (b), 1996). Because irrigated land is in short supply and the development of housing on what was once family farm lots, these elements underscore the economic indicators that have impacted the changing perspectives of many rural communities. The only means of addressing the reductions in population growth and the maintenance of factors, including the economic viability of the region, is through efforts to reduce the expansive growth of population.
The other economic issue that comes to light when considering this issue is the costliness of state-run welfare centers for children and their efficacy in maintaining acceptable environments for what many believe to be an unacceptable abandoned population (Anonymous (a), 1996). Because many female children are abandoned for long periods of time prior to their entrance into these centers, many are in critical conditions when they arrive, often experiencing exposure, dehydration and malnutrition, among other health hazards (Anonymous (a), 1996). Many of these infants require medical care, and expenditure that was not planned into the economic picture for these clinics or the general social perceptions regarding the efficacy of programs in light of economic concerns. Though critics suggest that is has never been the expectation of the state run programs to promote a completely effective response to issues regarding compliance, it has been argued that the longer this problem develops, the more state response will have to address the issues surrounding a large population of state welfare dependents (Anonymous (a), 1996). In recent years, economic focus from the outside and threats of economic repercussions if greater levels of leniency are not offered, has underscored the need to consider external factors in evaluating the economic impacts of this process.
The re initiating of the United Nations Population Fund, which restarted its program in China just a few weeks ago, provides economic support for emerging programs, to assist in bridging the gap between perceptions of economic stability and success in China (Bezlova, 198). It is evident that there is a desire to assist countries like China, in dealing with the problematic issues related to population growth, but the general consensus is that the regulations like the one-child program in China is not an effective means of addressing the issue, and it does not provide clear support for economic maintenance and reductions in the overall costliness of caring for large populations. One of the major issues that must be addressed in China is the continued efficacy of the rural agrarian population while also maintaining controls or some format that can assist in the stabilization of population. 338
Free research essays on topics related to: one child policy, rural communities, welfare programs, one of the major, population growth
Research essay sample on One Child Policy One Of The Major
