One Child Policy1979History 420: Presentation by Michele Uemoto

Background

1940’s:

● Chinese govt. encouraged people to have large families○ gain military strength ○ help w/ agricultural production

→ Led to overpopulation

1950’s & 1960’s:

● Chinese govt. encouraged people to have fewer children

→ But, population was still growing rapidly

One Child Policy (1979) - Deng XiaoPing

● Population Control○ Prior to One Child Policy, Mao implemented the “Family Planning Policy”

● Help raise living standards

● Reduce strain on scarce resources

Persuasion to adhere to One Child Policy

Advocated:

● one child per couple

● fewer and healthier babies

● delayed marriage

● delayed childbearing

Cooperating to the policy = Benefits

Not cooperating to the policy = Penalties

● no benefits, large fines, forced family planning, unemployment, etc.

One-Child Certificate

1. Must apply for this certificate2. Must pledge to not have any more children

- Given to couples with only one child.

BENEFITS● pension benefits● better health care● better child care● large cash bonuses● longer maternity leave● priority in school enrollment● preferential housing assignments● ……………………………………….etc

Exceptions to the One Child Policy

The Han

● Allowed to have a 2nd child if:○ the first child was a girl*○ the first child was mentally/physically

handicapped

ETHNIC MINORITIES

● Allowed 2 children*○ … and up to 4 children (if no one was

checking)

● Govt. did not want ethnic minorities to die out

○ * they needed people to work on the farms

● If both parents are only children○ can have another child, but spaced out by

4 years* = In rural areas only

Effects of the One Child Policy

● increase in the amount of orphans ○ especially girls

● sex-selective abortions● increased divorce rates● lower male-to-female ratio● Population reduced by 300 million● Over 400 million births prevented

Policy Ended: OCT 2015

Any Questions?

謝謝

Sources

1. Chineseposters.net http://chineseposters.net/index.php (Website maintained by Stefan Landsberger)2. Fong, Vanessa L. “China's One-Child Policy and the Empowerment of Urban Daughters.” American Anthropologist, Vol. 104, No. 4 (Dec.,

2002), pp. 1098-11093. Green, L. W.. (1988). Promoting the One-Child Policy in China. Journal of Public Health Policy, 9(2), 273–283.

http://doi.org/10.2307/33430104. Potts, M.. (2006). China's one child policy. BMJ: British Medical Journal,333(7564), 361–362. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/406995865. Short, S. E., & Fengying, Z.. (1998). Looking Locally at China's One-Child Policy.Studies in Family Planning, 29(4), 373–387.

http://doi.org/10.2307/172250