China's+Population+Control

      Population Control in

China By Lindsay 

__The One-Child Policy__          China is the largest populated country in the world. However, in 1979 it's population increase slowed down because of the one-child policy. This is a strict policy where the government of China created a law that stated each family may only have one child. This is the way China's government has dealt with their over-populated country. But in 1986 the policy changed to two children per couple. All in all, the main objective of the one-child policy was to keep the population within 1.2 billion through the year 2000.

Although this policy states one child per couple, many people in China resist it by keeping their second or third child. This rule is enforced in both urban and rural areas of China. The policy should be called the "one **birth** policy" because parents are allowed to keep twins, triplets, and so on. The exact rule varies from different locations. For example, it is more enforced in urban or city areas. But in rural areas parents are allowed to have two children only if their first child is a girl or is disabled. As you can see there are many complications and varieties in this strategy of keeping the population down. China plans to keep the one-child policy for about another decade.

For more information on this strict policy click [|here.]

Consequences... There can be very harsh consequences from the government of China if the one-child policy is broken. Parents sometimes are fined for having more than one child. People who follow this rule are rewarded with better living conditions, higher pay and etc. Mothers are also sometimes encouraged to have an abortion. Those who have more than one child are sometimes given the less important or lower paying jobs. Parents with only one-child also would get a certificate that said they could get special privileges. These rights may include a longer maternity leave when they are pregnant, extra cash bonuses, their own preferable house, and better childcare than those with more children.

The Children  Children are   abandoned and neglected in China usually because their parents don’t want to suffer from the government's consequences (see above). Infants, usually female, are mistreated. If a child is the second or higher birth order in their family they don't have access to health care or any education. Infants in mothers' bodies are usually aborted. This is a very serious issue in China and many girls are placed up for adoption.

Son Preference...page 2 Issues for the future... page 3

Bibliography...page 4

5 Point Quiz... page 5