The estimated average life expectancy at birth in 1949 was 35 years. It then grew sharply to reach 63 years in 1975. Along with that, the infant mortality rate decreased and fertility stabilized at about six children per woman (Bergaglio). As a result, the population soared for many years.
Many problems arise when the population is too high. The country simply cannot accommodate for all those people. In the 1982 census, almost ¼ of the nation were illiterate. 80% of the population lived in the countryside back then. Most of the people are therefore undereducated peasants in the labor force (Matthews 35). Population control is the only plausible solution.
When the one-child policy went into place nationwide, there was inevitably going to be some resistance. Many felt it was a violation of human rights but most thought of it as good for the country. When a local family planning official what would happen to a couple when they refused to sign the one-child-per-couple pledge, he answered, "All will sign the pledge (Matthews 37)." What this implies is forced abortions, even in the third trimester, and sterilizations if a second birth is made. Population control officials are said to conduct nighttime raids of couples houses suspected to have illegal children. The Chinese population control program also employs a network of paid informants that tell of unauthorized pregnancies by neighbors and co-workers (United States House Committee 5). Some couples also had to report that they were trying for a child and had to obtain permission so it would be added to a factory commune's yearly quota of newborns. For couples that managed to violate the rule, severe economic penalties, or 'social compensation fees', were applied such as no bonus or pricier education for the children (Reese). In rural areas, the policy is more lenient because the population there was more spacious. Rural parents are allowed to have a second child if the births are separated by at least three years.
Infanticide was also a problem in some places. The obsession with producing male offspring was a big handicap of the one-child policy. Many parents abandoned girls because they hoped for a boy. China has a history of favoritism for males because it's traditionally an agricultural country and as such, more hands in the fields are wanted. Parents also wanted boys because when they are old and retired, traditionally, males would settle close to their parents and bring home larger wages than the females. The government had only so much money for social security and it is spent on elderly in cites. Rural men were expected to abide by Confucian conventions of filial devotion, or dedication to one's parents (Matthews 122). Boys are thought to outnumber girls by 40 some million people. Much of this is due to ultrasound and gender prediction (Langfitt 13). Most local governments have banned the use of ultrasound to determine the sex of an unborn fetus. In a hospital in Anshan in the early 1980s, an early experiment dealing with determining the gender of unborn children yielded 30 abortions. 29 of those couples were told they had a girl. China's attitude toward male desirability has changed a lot since the 80s due to modernization but the gender ratio is still imbalanced. This has made many bachelors lonely and frustrated. It has also contributed to the selling and kidnapping of brides to farmers.
As a result, the government officially lets couples in rural areas have a second child "if the first is deformed, or a girl" says Peng Zhou, the Chinese national program officer for the United Nations Population Fund (Reese 1). Another caveat in the policy is if both people in a couple are both from ethnic minorities (not Han Chinese), or if both have no siblings. Hopefully, this problem will not be long lasting as there are more non-labor jobs and less discrimination in the cities.
Much of the controversy over the family planning policy has come from the United States. Many pro-life anti-abortion activists are outraged at the coercive abortions and sterilizations that China implements. They feel it is a violation of human rights and, furthermore, women's rights. Their side of the argument pertains all to women's right to choose and how they should be able to plan their own families. Much of the western media has an anti-China slant. Many view forced abortions as cruel and immoral. Other institutions, however, view it as necessary and for the good of the people in the country on a larger scale. The difference is mainly due to different understandings of the situation. They have different cultures and thus naturally have different ideas.
China's government senses a moral obligation to set a higher living standard for its people. The people there for must uphold that decision and not be selfish. If a person in China has a second child, they are further depleting the country's resources and depriving another family of them. Some people's way of thinking is that policy is needed, but just for other people or groups of people.
Other parts of the world don't have this problem so many people are unaware of the predicament. Even though many countries aren't concerned about overpopulation yet, a day will come when overpopulation becomes a global issue. Earth has limits. If those limits are reached, we cannot expand anymore or we will have to go somewhere else, such as to space colonies. China's policy seems to be effective. Demographers predict that the population of China will have a negative natural replacement rate by the year 2045 (US Embassy 1). In the future, some countries will adopt policies similar to China's.
Human rights activists label the one-child policy inhumane. They believe that all couples and individuals have "the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children" as stated in "World Population Plan of Action" approved at the International Population Conference of 1974 (qtd. in China, Family Planning sec. 7). With rights come responsibilities. When that right is exercised, they must take into consideration not only their own future but also the inevitable consequences that would result in future of the society in which their children will live in. When this right is abused, the government must step in and help people make reproductive decisions in a responsible manner. The government has given every citizen in China a duty to help make the society and the nation thrive in the future by limiting the number of births.
The People's Republic of China's controversial family planning policy has taken great effect in terms of make China a better place to live in. Even though it has not yet met its ultimate goal of reducing the general population to fewer than one billion, the future looks bright. The policy conforms the interests of the general population and has gotten the support of the broad masses of Chinese people. The group of people this benefits the most is those below the poverty line (China Family Planning sec. 2). This is especially important as China becomes more modern and capitalistic. If there were more people than there is now in China, there would be more unemployed thus more poor and homeless. Chinese people will be more literate and healthier due to less tension on schools and hospitals.
The problems the government has encountered by implementing the policy will be solved steadily in the process of reform and development. Family planning has saved the country from the burden of having to accommodate for 300 million more people. The one-child policy is not enough to advance economic development but it was the start and a very significant part of China's history. Countries who will encounter this dilemma in the future will look to China's policy as a model.
