One-child Policy

3 Pages 702 Words

China has had a population problem for nearly 30 years now. This population problem has caused the Chinese government to create the one-child-per-family policy to counteract the problem. This policy helps reduce the country’s population but it also generates many other problems which are debated. Proponents and opponents argue over China’s economy and morals. The argument is now more heated as the population is under control and the people are making unmoral decisions. China’s “one-child” policy per couple has been a controversial issue for over 25 years and is still one today.
China has always had a problem with over-population. The problem of a growing population is dated back to the Mao Zedong era when the population was just over 602 million people. He believed that if there were more people, then there would be more workers. The Chinese government noticed the problem of feeding, clothing, housing, employing and educating the numerous amount of people in the early 1980’s. China came up with the solution of producing a fewer amount of people. The government officials decided to create the one-child policy. With this, married couples would have to sign a one-child certificate which enforced the policy. This certificate served as a contract between the couple and the government to have only one child.
China’s culture promotes a married couple to have a son. This feature of their culture is promoted by the idea that the son will act as a security system in the couples old age (Jowett). The security system does not work if a daughter is born because she will marry into another family. The countries ratios between men and women have grown farther apart due to the fact that a couple can only have one child. China’s cultural factors in the aspect of sexual preferences with having a baby have made the one-child policy in China hard to achieve.
Hong Xiao, advocate of human rights, says that the one...