One Child Policy Dbq

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What would you do if all of a sudden the government said you could only have one child? This is exactly what policy happened in 1980 in China when the One Child Policy was enacted. There has been a lot of talk about if this policy was necessary and if it had a good or bad effect on China’s future. This policy was a good idea because it positively affected women and girls, reduced pollution, and parents are now able to give more care and attention to one child. China’s One Child Policy was a good idea because it helped women and girls. These children that are born an only child who is female is called an urban singleton daughter. These female children now “enjoy privileged childhoods little different from their male counterparts” (Doc D) and …show more content…

The One Child Policy has had a hugely positive effect on the environment. Before this policy started “large number(s) of people put very big pressure on all the resources, especially water” (Doc C). With there being an average smaller family, the pressure on some of the natural resources have decreased dramatically. It is stated that “in the past 30 years of effort sulfur dioxide emissions have gone down by 17.6% and water pollution has gone down by 30.8%” (Doc C). With China having a very high demographic stress level, this policy has been counted as an environmental blessing. Many people are hopeful this will continue to positively affect China’s natural resources for as long as possible …show more content…

However, humans have achieved a level that was never previously before known. Some countries have been able to reduce a high population without the One Child Policy (Doc B). However, even though these countries have been able to drop their population, these countries still have an extremely high poverty rate. In China the amount of people in poverty is 13.1%. Even though this is a high poverty rate the poverty line in South Korea is 15% (World Bank). South Korea’s population did drop from 1979 to 2008 but it wasn’t as effective and didn’t help the poverty line. Not only did China’s One Child Policy help with so many things, it also greatly helped reduce