Question

What was the one child policy, and what was its significance?

Did it affect China positively or negatively? Explain
( please do not plagiarize )

Answer 1

Answer/Explanation:

The one-child policy was a law executed by the Chinese government, which forced most couples in China to have only one child. It planned to mitigate the social, financial, and environmental difficulties related to the swiftly expanding population in China. However, it created more bad than good.

In these ways, it negatively affected China:

• The overall percentage of natural increase, the pregnancy rate, and the birth rate decreased.
• The policy prevented 400 million births.
• The overall sex ratio in China became skewed toward males.
• Preference for sons made a surge in the number of abortions of female organisms.
• The number of female babies murdered, left or set in orphanages increased.
• Rewards were given to families complying with the policy.
• Millions of Chinese parents had to deal with stringent implementation procedures of the policy, including required abortions.
• In families that now had one child, the births of extra children were usually undocumented, leading to several difficulties later on for those children as they struggled to receive an education or find a job.
• When the one-child policy was abolished, China’s birth and pregnancy rates were still low, leaving the nation with a population that was growing too quickly as well as a shrinking workforce.

Answer 2

Answer/Explanation:

China's one-child policy was introduced in 1979 and ended in 2015. Evident to the name of the policy, each couple was allowed to have one child only. The government believed that reducing the number of people born would reduce the strain on the country's resources; however, there were many "side effects" that affected China negatively.

In order to reinforce this policy, couples who were expecting more children were forced to have abortions. Some couples had their second child born in secret, but these children would be without a government identity. As a result, the child could not attend school or receive any social assistance and would have trouble finding work later on.

When there is only one child in a family, the child ends up receiving all of the attention from their parents and grandparents. They were more likely to be self-centred, uncooperative and even narcissistic.

That child would grow up and eventually start their family, all while their parents enter old age. Having to care for their own family and both of their elderly parents puts extra stress on one person, as opposed to if they could have shared that responsibility with a sibling.

There were particularly more boys than girls born during the policy because boys are traditionally preferred over girls. Many couples who found out they were having a girl would get an abortion. When boys come of age, this makes it more difficult for them to find a bride since there are fewer girls in society. This results in higher rates of depression and more cases of sexual harassment.