One Child Policy

Its hard to believe that there would actually be a rule that limit’s a family on how many children they can have. Its true, in China the “one child policy” or the “birth control policy” limits couples to having only one child through the 2006-2010 five year planning period. The policy was established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 to limit communist Chinas population growth. The Chinese government views the policy as a solution to alleviate the overpopulation, along with other problems such as social and environmental. Due to improvements in living standards, by 1969 the population was 806.71 million. The birth rate then was very high. The one child policy had begun already, but due to a lack of understanding about the seriousness of the problem and a lack of a clear policy, there were no major effects. It wasn't until after the peak birth period, 1962-1972, that a stronger program was made to control the ever increasing population. That program is basically what is followed today.

In 2002 the one child policy became a law, know as the Law on Population and Family Planning. The new law brings greater legal force of legislation into an arena that has been fraught with abuse and inconsistently applied features. Fines, pressure to abort a pregnancy, and even forced sterilization are the consequences many families faced from have more than one child. Other parents are fined for each additional birth. Their taxes are raised and they no longer receive free health care. Parents who comply with the One-Child Policy receive money from the government in addition to their free healthcare. Citizens living in rural areas and minorities living in China are not subject to the law.

When the policy first went into action in 1979, it caused disdain to female infants. During the 1980s abortion and adoption rate increased significantly. Parents having a female would often abandon the child as if they never had her in the first place. Some positive features to the new law includes banning of discrimination against, and maltreatment and abandonment of, female infants. It also prohibits discrimination against and the maltreatment of women who give birth to female children and women who are infertile.

The new law is also know as the “birth control policy” for a good reason. A total of 87 percent of all married women use contraception; this statistic compares with about one third in most developing countries. There is heavy reliance on long-term contraception, with intrauterine devices and sterilizations together accounting for more than 90 percent of contraceptive methods