One child policy, China- Management of rapid population growth

The original policy

· It was first introduced in 1979

· Must not marry until late 20’s

· Can only have one child

· Must be sterilised after the first child, or abort all future pregnancies

· 10% salary increase for only having one child

· Priority housing, pensions and family benefits for those with 1 child

Penalties for not following the rules

· Large fine (that would bankrupt many families)

· 10% salary cut

· Have to pay for education and healthcare

· Second child born abroad would not be allowed to become citizens of China

Changes in the 1990’s

· Parents with no brothers/ sisters can have more than one child- families were worried about their name dying out, also there needs to be enough young people to look after aging population

· People living in rural areas can have more than 1 child- they are needed to help on farms etc

· Ethnic minorities can have more than 1 child, minorities make up a very small amount of China’s population, so it wouldn’t make a big difference

· Couples don’t need permission to have a first child

· Following Sichuan earthquake the rules were relaxed to help the population recover

Benefits of the policy

· With less time needed to look after kids, women have been able to concentrate on their careers

· Repeats of famines like in the 1970’s have not happened

· 400 million fewer births have occurred since the policy was enforced

Problems with the policy

· Still 1 million more births than deaths every 5 weeks

· Increasing imbalance of men/ women as families want boys to pass the name on

· Some women have been forced to have abortions very late in their pregnancies by ‘granny police’ who monitor young women

· There has been many young girls killed so that their families can have a boy

· Children with no siblings get lots of attention, and become known as ‘little emperors’

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AQA GCSE Human Geography Population Control Policy China