One Child Policy and China’s Future.doc

One Child Policy and China’s Future The boom of population since1949 was a heavy burden to the newly founded republic. The severity of problems that come with overpopulation, like epidemics, slums, overwhelmed social services (such as health, education, law enforcement), and strain on the ecosystem from abuse of fertile land and production of high volumes of waste, had made the decision that we must do something to limit the population growth. Therefore, the One-Child Policy was carried out. The One-Child Policy is the population control policy of the Peoples Republic of China. The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy. It officially restricts the number of children married couples can have only one child, although it allows exemptions for several cases, including ethnic minorities, and parents without any siblings themselves. A spokesperson of the Committee on the One-Child Policy has said that approximately 35.9% of Chinas population is currently subject to the one-child restriction. The policy does not apply to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, or Tibet. The policy was introduced in 1978 and initially applied to first-born children in 1979. It was created by the Chinese government to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China, and authorities claim that the policy has prevented more than 250 million births from its implementation to 2000. The policy is controversial both within and outside China because of the manner in which the policy has been implemented, and because of concerns about negative economic and social consequences. The policy is enforced at the provincial level through fines that are imposed based on the income of the family and other factors. Population and Family Planning Commissions exist at every level of government to raise awareness about the issue and carry out registration and inspection work. Despite this policy, there are still many citizens t