China the Onechild Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

China the Onechild Policy - Essay Example It emerged from the belief that development would be compromised by rapid population growth and that the sheer size of China's population together with its young age structure presented a unique challenge." (Kane and Choi, 1999). Therefore, a reflective analysis of the one child family policy in China confirms that it was developed and implemented in reply to the concerns about the social and economic consequences of the sustained fast growth of population in the country and the execution of the policy was more effective in urban areas than rural areas of China. One of the major criticisms of the policy has been that it brings about inequity against females, who are often aborted, abandoned, or unregistered and there are reports of fines, pressures to abort a pregnancy, and even forced sterilization in the case of second or subsequent pregnancies. The rigorous implementation of the policy became more difficult due to social and economic reforms. However, one of the most important con sequences of the policy has been that it eased some of the pressures of rapid population increase on communities and it has reduced the population of the nation by at least 250 million. In this paper, a profound analysis of the one child policy in China is carried out in order to point out some of the good and bad effects accompanying the policy. China: the good and bad effects of one-child policy The one-child policy, which comes under the official translation of family planning policy of the Chinese government, has been one of the very important steps taken by the government in order to control the population growth in the nation and the policy officially restricts the number of children to the urban couples. Introduced by the Chinese government in 1979 to deal with the social, economic, and environmental problems in China, this policy has affected around 35.9% of China's population today. It is essential to realize the various significant aspects of the policy in order to make a good analysis of the good and bad effects of one-child policy in China. In a reflective analysis of the essential aspects of the policy, it becomes lucid that "the aim was to curtail population growth, perhaps to 1.1 billion and certainly to 1.2 billion, by the year 2000. It was hoped that third and higher order births could be eliminated and that about 30% of couples might agree to forgo a second c hild. The ideal of a one child family implied that the majority would probably never meet it People were to be encouraged to have only one child through a package of financial and other incentives, such as preferential access to housing, schools, and health services." (Kane and Choi, 1999). Thus, the one-child policy was the result of a common realization that the sacrifice of second or third children was very essential for the sake of future generations of China which is the most populous country in the world. One of the crucial factors about China's one-child family policy has been that it has crucially influenced the lives of nearly a quarter of the world's population for more than a quarter of the century and it is essential to realize the good and bad effects of the policy. A background analysis of China's one-child family policy makes clear that the Chinese government embarked on this policy in 1979, following the economic stagnation of the