China's One Child Policy: Do you think it should be enforced?

About China's One Child Policy

What is China's family planning policy?

China's one child policy was introduced in 1979 to curb population growth after initial attempts by Mao Zedong (leader of the People’s Republic of China during 1949 - 1976) to "bury the United States in a human wave". The regulations limit couples living in cities and urban environments to one child and couples in the countryside and rural areas to two. Hefty fines are imposed by local authorities for failure to abide by these rules. China's population is expected to increase from 1.3 billion to 1.6 billion people by 2050.

Your thoughts

Here's how some Student Life message board users felt about China's one-child policy:

• octoparrot posted:
  "I think they should keep their one child policy because China is a very over-populated country."

• BabeyL0Z posted:
  "To be honest I think China have got it all wrong! People should be allowed to have as many children as they want!."

• U12038019 posted:
  "A family in China can have more than one child, but life is pretty much hell for them afterwards. You don't receive any benefits for free such as health treatment, schooling and so on. It's a terribly sad thing, and I feel for the people that have lost their children. Ultimately they have to do it, overcrowding is too big a thing in the world and it needs to be reduced... although I don't full agree with the methods they have."

Pros

• China has managed to limit its population growth acording to foreign and independent Chinese academics.
• It estimated that this has prevented over 400 million births..
• Supporters for the policy believe it has been successful in cities and has provided better education for many children residing in the countryside.
• Chinese government officials have also stated, "compared with the world's other developing countries with large populations, we have realised this transformation half a century ahead of time."

The Chinese Government has announced that it will offer a range of benefits to families that have implemented the family planning policy:

• The proposed policies are mainly targeted at single-child families and those with two daughters living in rural areas .
• These policies range from health care to house renovation, poverty reduction, training programs, land rearrangement, new technology, relocation subsidies, land rearrangement and educational support according to official government departments.
• Government agencies hope this will enhance "population and family-planning work" in rural areas and improve the quality of life for those couples.

Cons

Academics and Chinese citizens alike believe this is a mistake and will "result in a number of serious demographic problems in the future".

• Since the introduction of the policy there has been an increase in stolen children and it is estimated that more than 70,000 children are kidnapped every year and traded on the black market.
• The illegal trade of children has caused untold suffering for thousands of people nationwide, especially poor families and those on the fringes of society.
• Traffickers can buy baby boys for over £400 and baby girls can be sold for as little as £200.
• Many believe the policy has inadvertently led to the killing, adoption or selling off of female infants because Chinese culture traditionally favours boys.
• Government officials who have more than one child automatically lose their jobs.
• Men in China now outnumber women by over 60 million.
• Critics of the poilicy believe this has led to an increase in forced abortions and financial penalties.

Other thoughts on the future...

There are some in the Chinese Government that believe that the one-child policy is damaging the economy and destroying the foundations of society, and thus should be incrementally altered by conducting studies to assess the situation. The regulation is privately disliked by most Chinese citizens and foreigners alike. Human rights activists believe this has also led to the practice of Eugenics (initiative by which, humans are selected for breeding in order to maximize certain attributes or qualities). However, due to official government policy and China's increasing population many people believe this regulation will not be relaxed to allow couples to have more children. One Chinese newspaper, The People's Daily stated: "We cannot just be content with the current success, we must make population control a permanent policy".