the one child olicy 2the one child policy 2.doc

The one child policy The full name of the one child policy is the one-child-per-couple policy. It is used to control the population problem of the People’s Republic, since having the largest population impedes the development of China. However, it also brings some negative effects to the country, society and people. Therefore, China should not continue to implement the one child policy. At the end of 1960s, the government began to see rapid population growth as a potential threat to the nation’s economic development and food supply, so they commenced the one child policy (White 2). It slowed down the population growth from 11.6% in 1979 to 5.9% in 2005 and reduced the population by 250-300 million (NBSC). The reduction has eased some pressures on employment, social facilities, and the rest. Nevertheless, it also produces increased population aging, which causes a serious shortage of labor and increases the burden on the country. Furthermore, many families are structured as 4-2-1 (Hesketh 8), that is to say, a young married couple has to take care of four parents and one child without help from siblings. If the adult child has health or other problems, services and support from the country and society will be required. Then the government will need a more comprehensive social welfare to cater for the elderly. Meanwhile, it causes the unbalanced sex ratio. China has the “ traditional concept and deep historical roots” (Michelson 3) that males are superior to females and boys can inherit the family’s career, promoting discrimination against female newborns. Therefore, female newborns may be abandoned, aborted, or unregistered, causing many “missing girls”. Those “missing girls” usually have disadvantages in access public education and social welfare, which are carried by a household registration. Over the 20 years’ implementation of the one child policy, the sex ratio of newborn boys to girls has risen from 108.5 in 1985 to 119 in 2005 (BBC). Ninety-nine cities had gen