The one-child policy in China was introduced in order to control the country’s growing population. Although the policy had good intentions, it resulted in various unintended consequences. In my view, the policy was a good idea as it would have controlled the country’s population to ensure economic reform and improved standards of living. Regulating the population had its benefits on the country’s ecology as the country was overpopulated. At the time the policy was introduced, China’s population accounted for a quarter of the world’s people. The one child policy involved restrictions on late marriage, child birth, and size of the family and spacing of children (Hesketh & Xing, 2005). However, this child policy was biased as it allowed some families in the rural areas to have a second child if the first one was a girl. This situation proved the country’s preference for male children.
The one child policy was replaced by the two child policy in October, 2015. The new policy was good news to Chinese citizens as the larger percentage of the population could now have their preferred number of children. I think this policy is beneficial as it will reduce the number of abortions in unapproved pregnancies, it will eliminate the unregistered children problem and improve the country’s sex ratio. The effects of this policy on rapid population ageing and reduced workforce will be felt after a few decades (Zeng & Hesketh, 2016).
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The potential third child policy will be a vital stepping stone towards overcoming the country’s population woes. The third child policy could be introduced as the two child policy is not solving the country’s fertility rate crisis (Allen, 2018). If implemented, this policy will immensely improve the country’s population and overall sex ratio. More children will also translate to an increased workforce which is currently dwindling. The policy will also be beneficial as it will eliminate the rapid population ageing which is currently being experienced in the country. The elderly will also have more people to take care of them.
References
Allen Kerry, 2018. China Hints at Three-Child Policy with ‘Happy Family’ Stamps. BBC News. Retrieved From: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-45124502
Hesketh Theresse & Xing Wei Zhu, 2005. The Effect of China’s One-Child Family Policy after 25 Years. Health Policy Reports.
Zeng Yi & Hesketh Therese, 2016. The Effects of China’s Universal Two-Child Policy. The Lancet. 388: 1930-1938.
