One child policy in China was introduced as a family planning initiative to curtail the high growth rate of the population. The policy meant that couples were not allowed to have more than one child. Failure to adhere to this requirement would be met by severe punishments, except for twin children. In particular, a family that had more than one child was demanded to pay a social compensation fee yearly, based on the income of the couple. It is worth noting that couples that obeyed this rule were rewarded with employment, better education, and preferential treatment by the government. On the other hand, those who went against it faced a difficult time obtaining government services. Because of this, it generated mixed debates over the consequences of this policy have been in place. More specifically, opponents state that the policy led to a reduction in fertility, disparity in sex ratio at birth, and increased cases of adoption and abandonment. By contrast, proponents argue that One Child Policy improved the quality of life of women in China.
It is argued that the policy of one child significantly improved the quality of female status in the country. In particular, it is believed that the low fertility rates that resulted from this policy helped women to make educational milestones in society. As a result, they improved their financial status, which also was a critical aspect of supporting their aging parents. Consequently, this proved that daughters could have the same status as sons in the Chinese government. Traditionally, the country had placed a boy child at the center of everything, and this created a social imbalance. However, women felt motivated by the government’s initiative, which influenced their decisions of pursuing educational and financial success. Likewise, rural areas that had preferred sons as the offspring of the family, daughters have now been receiving enormous investment, which has contributed to gender equality in China. On the same note, patriarchal kinship had defined the society for quite some time in the country, and the policy helped tinker with this perspective of society. Therefore, women empowerment in China critically increased as girls pursued education, financial success, and job opportunities. In this sense, the one-child policy reduced the economic burden of the elderly because the daughters could easily take care of them. At the same time, there was an increase in per capita income because of the financial success of women. Besides, the government could also improve its provision of services to the people of China in social amenities such as water, electricity, and healthcare. Therefore, the transformation of the family structure led to a balance in society, and it also improved the social wellbeing of women in the process.
In as much as one-child policy improved the status and quality of life of females in the society, it is equally argued that it led to a sex-ratio imbalance. More specifically, it is documented that from 1979 to 2001, when the policy was effected, the sex ratio in society declined from 1.06 to about 1.17. That is to say that for every 117 boy children born; there were only 100 female borns. The trend continued from 1979 to 2001 when the ration changed to 107 to 100. Therefore, if this continues this way, it might be possible that the number of women in China would be millions below that of men. Thus this growing gap can be attributed to the one-child policy which limited couples to only one child. The implication was that eventually, there was a large number of male as compared to women in the society. A normal range would have been between 1.03 and 1.07, as is the case with many currently highly industrial states. As a result of the sex-ratio imbalance, there is an increasing concern that the men in China have fewer women to marry. The implication for this revelation would be that there will be a high number of bachelors in the society. The same can cause an array of social problems such as the kidnapping of women for marriage, commercial sex work, and rape cases. Similarly, the shortage of women can cause mental health problems to men and other disruptive behaviors such as incest. Eventually, such behaviors would contribute to moral decay in the society as well as tarnishing the name of the county overseas.
One child policy also led to an increase in the number of unregistered children in China. According to Hukou, all newborns have to be registered in a national register. Hukou refers to a system in China which upon the birth of a child, takes details of their names, citizenship, and their permanent residence, including names of their parents. It is also imperative to note that this system is an essential element in managing households in China. Likewise, children who are unregistered in China are usually referred to as black children. However, after the enforcement of the One-Child Policy, families were discouraged from having the excess number of children as stipulated by the government. Those families that went contrary to this call would usually be scrapped from access to social benefits such as education. At the same time, they had to pay hefty fines, and their living conditions were generally pathetic. Nevertheless, at the height of this policy, it is noted that women who became pregnant for a girl would typically choose to give birth in secret so that they can have another child who would be registered. It should be noted that the children whose details never found their way into the Hukou were at a critical disadvantage. They were not recognized by the government, and therefore, their accessibility to social services was a serious concern. In equal measure, they were not able to acquire proper education, which consequently hurt their future growth and development and social wellbeing. For instance, they may be required to pay extra fees to access quality education; they may also be denied employment opportunities.
Likewise, many argue that China’s One-Child Policy led to sex-selective abortions. It was reported that whenever an expectant woman knew they were carrying a girl, they would usually opt to abort to buy time for giving birth to another child. Up until 1999, the government of China denied any link between the one-child policy and the female deficit. There had been questions about the skewed ratio of men and women in the countries which also expressed itself in the birth of children. However, when the results of the national census were announced in 2000, the government could no longer deny the reasons for the skewed sex ratio. It should be remembered that sex-selective abortions affected a more significant portion of the births of females, thus a decline in the number of women in the country. Given that the action is illegal, there are no actual figures on the number of female births that were affected by these actions. However, it is believed that sex-selective abortions were exacerbated by ultrasonography, which was cheap and reliable. Therefore, this gave expectant mothers compelling reasons to terminate female pregnancies. Traditionally, parents in china have preferred boys more than girls in the family. It could also be said that this notion was aided by the policy of one child because couples would exercise it without having the feeling of ethical obligation. Nevertheless, it is also argued that sex-selective adoption would have continued even without the one-child policy. However, it is noted that it would not have been more common as it happened after the enforcement of the policy. Therefore, the one-child policy had a causal link to sex-selective abortion by couples.
However, it can be argued that the one-child policy had benefits as well as costs. Given that China is the highly populated county in the world, the number could be even higher if the policy had not been enacted. More specifically, the policy improved the living standards of the population, quality of education, and less expenditure by the government. With the policy, one person would receive more resources such as water, food, medical care, and quality education. In the same manner, parents can cater to their children more comfortably without any stain with fewer children. Therefore, the government had enough resources to improved many sectors of the economy. As a result, highly educated people led to high productivity in the industries, which also increased the per capita income of the country. However, this theory may not hold because there are countries with high per capita income, yet there are no such policies about the number of children that a couple is expected to raise. However, it can also be said that the policy had many consequences for the country. For instance, it led to moral decay because women would terminate their pregnancies for fear of government apprehension and poor accessibility to social amenities. Also, many women would resort to abandoning children, who later grew up in a tumultuous environment because the government could not recognize them. Such children would face hurdles in accessing quality education and securing employment opportunities. Similarly, the sex-ratio disparity brought about a gender imbalance that negatively affected the men because they would not find marriage partners. As a result, kidnapping and trafficking of women would be the last resort.
In 1979, China implemented a one-child policy that was aimed at limiting the number of children by couples. The policy brought about numerous consequences in society and disrupted the demographic composition of the country, alongside other effects. In particular, those who were found to have violated this law faced the punishment of paying compensation to the government for the extra child. Such actions led to the sprout of other behaviors in society because of the fear implicated by the action of the government. For instance, the one-child policy to sex-selective abortions in that expectant women would terminate whenever they knew that they were carrying a girl. Likewise, the policy led to sex-ratio imbalance because the number of boys born exceeded girls. Consequently, the trend contributed to the scarcity of women to marry because the number of men outnumbered that of women in millions. However, the policy can be said to have brought about a higher quality of life for women in society. More specifically, girls would attain higher education, which, in turn, improved their social wellbeing. Women would eventually be able to secure jobs and thus raising them high in the social realm. They could also provide for their aged parents, and again this helped the government in freeing up money used for these populations for other projects.