STUDY TRIP TASK TMD

REPORT CHINA STUDY TRIP

THE ONE-CHILD POLICY

In 1979 the one-child policy was introduced in

China. The one-child policy is part of the family
planning policy of China. It was a law that led to a
lot of changes and consequences in China. In
more than 30 years, this policy has done a lot to
limit the countrys population growth.

In 2015, the existing law changed to a two-child

policy because of the communist party of China.

Under Mao Zedongs leadership the birth rate as well as the infant
mortality declined tremendously. Simultaneously, the life expectancy
dramatically increased. The government was encouraging people to have
as many children as possible, because Mao believed that the population
growth empowered the country. This led to a possible overpopulation
catastrophe and this is when the one-child policy came to place.

The one-child policy had a lot of exceptions. Parents whos first-born was a
girl, were allowed to have a second child. But also in the case of a first-
born with a disability, they could have more children. If one of the parents
or both were only child, they were also able to have a second child. These
are just some of the exceptions, but a lot more were made. Parents who
want or may have a second child however, need to wait three to four
years after the birth of their first child to raise a second child.

Beginning in 1980, women were obliged to have a contraceptive

intrauterine device installed surgically after their first child and they were
sterilized after their second child. Women who refused this, could be losing
their government employment. Their children could also be losing access
to education or health services. When the one-child policy was abolished,
the government promised to pay IUD removals.

The one-child policy strictly applies to the Han Chinese living in the urban
areas of the country. The law is not applied on the ethnic minorities
throughout the country. This is done because the Han Chinese represent
over 91% of the Chinese population.

Anouk Bossuyt IBM0204

 STUDY TRIP TASK TMD

There are a lot of

consequences to this policy.
The most logical
consequence is the fact that
the population growth has
declined. Not only the
population growth is
declining, but also the
working age population is
shrinking. This also means
that the age dependency
ratio is increasing. This is the ratio of people that are depending on those
of working age.

If China were to keep the one-child policy, they area expected to reach a
zero population growth by 2025.

The one-child policy also rewards or punishes families. If a family follows

all the standards of the policy, they will be rewarded by getting higher
wages, better schooling and employment for their children and they get a
preferential treatment in obtaining governmental assistance.

On the other hand, if families dont follow the one-child policy rules, they
will get punished by very specific sanctions. They could get fines,
employment termination, and they wont get preferential treatment, but
difficulties in obtaining governmental assistance.

In October 2015 however, the government decided to lift the one-child

policy, hoping there will be a boom in second children. This is exactly what
happened. The new law came into effect on January 2016. It is now called
a two-child policy. This law came into action as a resolution to the aging
issue. As people were getting older, their only child had the whole
responsibility to look after his parents. One child wasnt able to support
both of his parents anymore.

Source:
(Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 2017)

(Hall, 2017)

(Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 2017)

(Rosenberg, 2017)

(Nardelli, 2015)

Anouk Bossuyt IBM0204

STUDY TRIP TASK TMD

Anouk Bossuyt IBM0204