China's One-Child Policy Analysis

A government program that controlled reproductive rights of women was unheard of by the world before China's one-child policy. Essentially, the policy was meant to enforce the limitation to one offspring per couple, and the promotion of birth control for the entire nation. For a large portion of recorded history, the People's Republic of China has been the most populous country in the world. After a rapid rise in the nation's fertility rate in the 20th century the controversial one-child per couple policy was put into effect in 1979 by the Chinese State Council. It was meant to be a short term measure with the goal of moving towards a “small-family culture” (Hesketh et al.) although the extent to which the policy varied throughout the years

The main function of this campaign was to reach a classless society and fully industrialize the nation. This was an impractical plan because of the approach taken. The Chinese Communist Party began to put higher taxes on grain, even though there was less of it as labor had been diverted towards working on industrial projects. The rise in population and changes in labor priorities caused an over consumption of the little grain and resources left. This lead to the Chinese Famine that lasted from the start of the campaign, 1958 up to 1961. The famine lead to the death of around 30 million people and the government lifting the condemnation of birth control in an effort to reverse the destructive effects (Whyte et al.). In Mao Zedong wenji (the Works of Mao Zedong) Zedong said: “Of course birth control is still necessary, and I am not for encouraging more births. There should be a ten-year program for promoting birth control” (Whyte et al., 147). After his passing September 9, 1976 a group of scientists lead by Song Jian (a ballistic missile specialist) produced demographic projections proving it necessary for the nation's population rate to decrease in 1979. This is where the implementation of the one-child policy arose, as Song Jian’s population prospects made the government aware that the population size had become untenable (Whyte et al.,

This meant that there was a higher percentage of female foetus abortions, high rates of female infanticide, and more females homeless or in orphanages. This lead to an out of proportion, male dominated gender gap. Less women meant less brides for men, leading to less couples, meaning less families and children. Since many could not find spouses, some saw having a daughter as profitable, and this lead to human trafficking issues. To do this, the government began to release campaigns to begin the normalization (Chang, 2). Normalization is an issue as it takes a toll on the nation and bringing the imbalance back to a level condition would not happen on it's own.

Additionally, birth rates went down and longevity went up (United Nations). Lower birth rates was not necessarily a direct consequence of the policy as it has become preferable to have less children and because of economic development (Clarke and Serrano). The longevity rising brought issues because of the amount of pensioners compared to taxpayers. A great deal of the population was elderly, meaning the working population went down, and the amount of people dependent on pension and not having to pay taxes went