It is however to be recognized that the law has been a cause of many controversies in the Chinese nation. Opponents of the policy have increasingly cited concerns of gender discriminations that have evidently resulted as a consequence of the law. It has been established that the female gender is a major victim of abortion and abandonment in the nation. The notion that the male gender is of higher economic importance to a nation is the waste crisis which has negated the purpose of the One-Child Policy in China (Weller, 2007). It is a contradiction of the respect that nations have for life that a nation can have in place a law that encourages discriminative child birth practices. Abortion and abandonment are moral issues which negates the underlying human rights. It should however be noted that population control should always be encouraged as it is only by this that a government can ensure an economically sustainable community.
This paper is gives a critical analysis of the One-Child Policy in China. The author particularly talks about the reasons behind its implementation and its impact on the population of the Chinese republic. The author also gives a discussion on the critics and proponents of the One-Child Policy in China.
The one child policy
The one child policy in china is a population control strategy by the Chinese government which dictates couples to have only one child. It is however to be realized that the policy allows for the bearing of more than one child especially for rural residents. The law does not apply to some ethnic minority communities in the nation. It has evidently been established that only an estimated 40 percent of the Chinese population has been affected by the one child policy restrictions. Still to be noted here is the factor the law has not been in some regions of the republic such as the Hong Kong and Tibet.
The law allows for having more than one child particularly in rural areas if the first child is proved to be physically and mentally impaired. Still to be noted is the fact that such giving birth into a second child is subject to confirmation by the legal justice system and should be based on birth spacing provisions of three to four years. It should be understood that the law on its provisions imposes heavy fines to members of the society who violate the law. Giving birth to a third child is a criminal offense which could compromise ones occupational benefits. It is however to be noted that the Chinese government under its affirmative action policy allows for the minority ethnic groups in the nation to have up to four kids (Miller, 2007). The implementation of the policy is however discriminative as it particularly impacts more on the economically challenged members of the society. It has been established that fines on violation of the law are mainly based on the financial status of the couples.
Reasons behind the implementation of the one child policy in China
The one child policy was a governments move that was seeking to address a number of economic and social problems which were posed by its increasing population. It had been established that the highly increasing population could evidently compromise the economic development of the Chinese republic. Being a communist state, the provision for the living of the population is highly dependant on the government. Therefore, such high populations could heavily impact on the nations annually budget expenditure. Due to the growing youth population, there existed a strain in the structures of the nation. It is in the purpose of any serious nation to ensure sustainability of its population (Chang, 2008). It was due to this reason that the government sort to limit its population to reflect the limited human social structures in the nation. Still to be noted is the fact that increasing populations come with many negative impact on the environment. Such environmental effects are both accommodation factors as well as agricultural productivity. Food security is a basic concern in any nation. The growing population in china has been seen to threaten this crucial arm of the nations economy. It was thus by dictate mandatory population control that the economic expenditure by the government on its population could be realized. This also greatly factored in ensuring sustainable development in the nation.
Impact of the one child policy in child
The implementation of the one child policy has seen a sharp decline in the fertility rate on the Chinese citizens. Statistical evidence show that most women have a fertility rate of less than two as opposed to the previous over three fertility rates which were evident before the enactment of the law. It has been established that the population of the Chinese republic has greatly reduced following the implementation of the one child policy (Li, 2000). Statistical evidence has shown that the population of china had fallen by over four million by the end of 2008. It has evidently been identified that such a policy has greatly help the nation in address the problems associated with overpopulation. The living standards of the Chinese citizens have notably increased following the implementation of the law. The rate of slums development in the nation has evidently reduced over the past decades of the policys implementation. It has also been established that strain on social facilities in the nation have been on the decline. Such reductions of the nations population have evidently been praised for the increasing sustainability of the nations agricultural sector (Swindall, 2007). This is basically due to the fact that abuse of fertile lands has greatly reduced. Still to be noted here is the fact that reduced population comes with reduced waste, an element which has greatly improved environmental status in the Chinese republic.
The one child policy has led to improved health services in the nation. It has been in the interest of the nation that all its women population be provided health care service during and after giving birth. Such has greatly reduced the number of deaths resulting from pregnancy. It is also to be noted that the one child policy has greatly increased the saving rates by the population. With small families, the expenditure of the family is significantly reduced. This has the implication that the population will have more cash for investing. It is also to be realized that they has been a tendency of saving for us during the old age. This can be closely attributed to the fact that with only one child, dependence of him or her during the old ages could be highly unreliable. It should also be noted that the one child policy has seen a reduction in the unemployment rates in the nation (Miller, 2007). The policy has also improved the employment sector in the aspect of reducing exploitative element by employers. This is because the policy has greatly reduced the availability of surplus labor in the nation.
It is however to be noted that the implementation of the law is seen by many not to evidently give a lasting solution to the growing population in the nations. It has been established that the death rate in the nation is quite low compared to the birth rate. Statistics have shown that there are one million births in china every month compared to the resulting number of death over the same period of time. Still to be noted is the fact that the policy has been greatly associated with the ever increasing problem of aging population in China.
Negative impacts of the one child policy in China
There have been many critics of the one child policy. The first and most profound critic of the policy is that it has highly compromised the morals of the Chinese people. It has been evidently witnessed that the policy has increased the number of abortions in the nation. It is worth noting here that abortion is a social crime of killing the unborn. It is thus a compromise of a nations provision on human rights that a nation can impose a law that threatens the life of its people (Chang, 2008).
The law has also been found to encourage discriminative pregnancies. The number of female kids in the nation has witnessed a sharp decrease over the past few decades of the implementation of the policy. It has been a common believe in China that male child is an important resource to the society. It is such believes which have led to the abortion of many female pregnancies. This is a great risk to the sustainable social well being of the Chinese community. It has in fact been the concern by the government on the well being of the female gender that the care for girls program has been implemented (Li, 2000). This program seeks to resolve the problem of discrimination of the girl child in the community.
Another problem with the one child policy is the increasing number of abandonment witnessed in the community. Given the heavy fines imposed on those who violate the law, it is increasingly becoming the habit to abandon kids in fear of facing the law. It is to be noted here that neglecting responsibility over a child is a breach of the provisions of the principle of standards of care in the community. Kids should be seen as precious gifts from God rather than a threat to our social and economic structures. Still to be noted here is the fact that the question of reproduction should not be regulated by the law but should rather be a human choice basically determined by ones ability to bring up the child (Liu, Onuaha, 2005). The universal declaration of human rights which protect the right to having a family should not be violated by any nation. To be emphasized here is the fact that the rights of an individual should not be compromised by state laws.
Still to be noted is the fact that the policy threatens the future existence of the Chinese republic. With the high rates of population disparities facing the Chinese nation, it is evidently clear that such trends could highly compromise the future social and economic structures of china. Discrimination on the girl child is increasing threatening the boy girl ratio in the Chinese nation. The notion that the male gender is of higher economic importance to a nation is the waste crisis which has negated the purpose of the One-Child Policy in China. This is a great concern for many as it risks the development of social impaired human community in the nation. it is literary wrong for any nation to have which purports to be a custodian of human rights to allow for discriminative birth practices in its population.
On the side of economic impact of the law, it should be noted the future workforce of the nation is put at stake following the wide spread use of the one child policy. How can a nation claim sustainability of its economy when it emphases on only one child in every family Assuming consistence of the natural laws of death, it is clear that the Chinese population will be experiencing high rates of deaths than births (Weller, 2007). This will have the ultimate result of reducing the availability of sustainable labor supply to one of the economic giants in the globe. Still to be noted here is the fact that Chinese republic will be experiencing the problem of increasing growing aging workforce in its industries. The youth are usually the major driving force in many economies of the world. It is therefore to be recognized that the policy is thus a major economic threat as it denies the nation the competitive economic advantage that comes with the youth.
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