Background
China is the world’s greatest country when it comes to population. It is located in the South Eastern parts of Asia being surrounded by other countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Japan, North and South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is the largest Asian country by land area. The most recent surveys show that China has approximately 1.4 billion (World Bank n.p.). Note that the current world population is approximate 7 billion, which means that for approximately 6 people, 1 of them is a Chinese. Interestingly, this startlingly huge population size could have been bigger if not for China’s one child policy which prohibited Chinese families to beget more than one child. China’s one child policy has been a focus of many criticisms from diverse nations, especially western nations, since its introduction in 1979. Many contend that it had significant effects on both the social and economic welfare of China, while others believe that it had insignificant effects. Among those who believe that the policy did have social and economic effects, there are still opposing views as to whether the effects were good or adverse. This research, therefore, revisited relevant information on China’s population dynamics and social and economic changes from previous studies and re-evaluate them in order to come up with a conclusion as to the real effects of China’s one child policy. Based from the re-evaluation of relevant information, this research infers that China’s one child policy has indeed decrease the growth rate of China. The policy had also paved way for the improvement of its economic conditions. With regards to its social effects, it can be inferred that the policy had diverse effects to the different societies in China; hence, it cannot be categorically concluded that its effects were all together good or all together bad.
China’s Population Growth Rate
China’s one child policy came as a population control measure in 1979. During this time China was suffering from poverty with a very slow GDP growth rate. The idea was that China’s resources during that time are not sufficient or are used inefficiently to sustain the rapidly growing population. The historical population growth rate of China from AD 2 to the early 1950s is shown in figure 1. It should be noted that in terms of geographic patterns, China had its population highly concentrated at its provinces near the South China Sea. The main reason for this is that it is only its Southern portion that has access to the; hence, to the major trade routes of the world. China’s northern parts are mostly deprived of water sources; hence, they are not conducive for high populations. It should be noticed that later years of the 14th century to the early years of 20th century, China has been experiencing an exponential growth it is population, which means the population at its Southern geographic regions (Banister 52-55). That trend has continued at it reached the 1.35 million mark in 1953 (United Nations n.p.). From this trend it is not hard to imagine how the Chinese population could have exploded from the 1950s to the 21st century if no population control measure is done.
Figure 1: Historical population of China from AD 2 to 1953 (Banister 52)
Many argue that the one child policy has no significant effect because the Chinese population has continued to grow even during its intense application. This conclusion can be arrived at if the population growth rate is interpreted haphazardly. The population of China from the 20th to the 21st century is shown in figure 2. It can be seen from the figure that there was a steady increase from 1961 to 2005 with some deflections from 1980 to 1990, although the deflections are only minor. Basing solely from this figure, it might indeed be tempting to conclude that the on child policy has no effect. Another population trend therefore should be consulted.
Figure 2: China’s population from 1961 to 2005 (United Nations n.p.)
For the purpose of this research, the world’s total population as well as the population of major areas of the world was consulted. These population trends are shown in figure 3. For the interpretation of this figure it will be necessary to set aside the predicted values indicted by spreading highlight from 2010 to 2050. The data of concern is from 1950 to 2010. It can be clearly seen from figure that the deflections that are characteristics to that of China’s population growth trend are missing in Asia and the World population. This is interesting since the Asian population is dominated by the Chinese population which suggests that many of the nations in the Asian region have experienced rapid increase in population growth rate from the aforementioned period that they balance out that of China; hence, removing the deflections. Moreover, it should be noted that from 2000 onward, all curves tend to bend towards an upper limit. This is most pronounced if the curve for Latin America is considered; notice the bow shape inflection starting from the year 2000. This inflection indicates that the region or country is already reaching is population carrying capacity, which is an effect of overpopulation.
Figure 3: World and major regions’ population growth from 1950 to 2050 (United Nations n.p.).
The three figures illustrated above, therefore, provides strong evidences that China indeed experienced a slow down in its population growth rate since it introduced the one child policy. This finding is contrary to the belief of western nations – the major critiques of China.
Social and Economic Effects
Thus far, it has been established that China, indeed, experienced a significant decrease in its population when the one-child policy was implemented starting 1979. Diverse studies have shown that this policy has also resulted to significant social and economic changes in China. Xuefeng Chen (2013) has shown in his study entitled, “The Social Impact of China’s One Child Policy” that Chinese children born within 1979 to 2012 have low social skills. The main reason for this, according to Chen is that the 20th and 21st Chinese families had overemphasized the need for education to earn a better socio-economic status. The Chinese, prior to 1979, have experienced great famine and poverty. Such experiences remain fresh in the memory of parents, hence, they tend to focus all their energies in convincing, even force their one and only child, to study hard. Chen observed that “single-children of today are deprived of the same childhood experiences undergone by their mothers and fathers” (Chen 76).
In another study conducted by Martin King Whyte (2014) entitled, “Modifying China’s One Child Policy,” it was explained that the policy resulted to China’s aging population to increase greatly compared to the younger population. This means that the social needs of the old population was also jeopardized by the one child policy. Another major adverse effect of the policy according to Whyte is that China had an even worse international image because of its strict and sometimes inhumane implementation of one child policy. Note that there were report that China had some pregnant women to undergo abortion because the child limit has already been exceeded (Whyte 3).
In terms of the policy’s social effects, it can be inferred that it has resulted to less synchronized or harmonious society in China. The two main reasons is that the young generation had poor social skills, while the older population cannot have their social needs accommodated. The old and the young population, therefore, are socially detached to each other, and the new generation of Chinese experience difficulty in socializing among themselves, much more to foreigners. Malcolm Potts (2006) describes the social effects of the policy by stating that “Undoubtedly, the one child policy caused great individual pain and it has been heavily criticized” (Potts 361). Nevertheless, it should be noted that Chinese officials argue against such perceptions, because the policy was not implemented with an iron hand. In fact the officials argue that the families were not forced by simply encouraged through state-sponsored rewards and privileges. Moreover, the policy did not affect all Chinese families. For example, indigenous groups or the minority groups were not included in the implementation (Settles et al. 4).
With regards to the policy’s economic effects, Adrián Avuk, Katarína Benková, Miroslav Vojtko (2012) has explained that the policy has resulted to the improvement in the standard of living among Chinese. In fact China has astonished the world for its high economic growth rate for the past decades (“How The One Child Policy Helped Chinese Economy” n.p.). In another study performed by Creative Commons Attribution (2015), it was shown that China had been providing better quality of health care for women since the policy was implemented. The study notes “It is reported that the focus of China on population control helps provide a better health service for women and a reduction in the risks of death and injury associated with pregnancy” (Creative Commons Attribution 4).
Predictions
Poverty still scourges many nations. China’s ascent in power – both militarily and economically – might be perceived by many nations as the effects of China’s local and international policies. The attention that the one child policy got since it was implemented up to the time it was ended in 2015 ensures that almost all nations in the world are aware of it. With the growing desperation of diverse populations around the world, it is more likely that such policies will be adapted by China’s neighboring countries in Asia. As a matter of fact, controlling population growth by having similar policies is a common topic among different nations around the world, particularly in Asia because this region has the highest population in the entire world. The current Philippine government at present, for example, is eyeing at creating a similar policy where Filipino families will be encouraged to have 3 children at most (The Manila Times n.p.).
Works Cited
Avuk, Adrián, Katarína Benková, Miroslav Vojtko. Economic Impact of One Child Policy in People’s Republic of China. 2012. Web. 2017.
Banister, Judith. A Brief History of China’s Population, the Population of Modern China. 2011. Print. pp. 51–57. ISBN 978-0-306-44138-7.
Cheng, Huefeng. The Social impact of China’s One Child Policy. Harvard Asia Pacific Review. 2003. Web. 2017.
Creative Commons Attribution. One-Child Policy. 2005. Web. 2017.
“How The One Child Policy Helped Chinese Economy.” A Dawn Journal. 2010. Web. 2017.
Potts, Malcolm. China’s One Child Policy. British Medical Journal. 333.1(2006): 361 – 362.
Settles, Barbara H., Xuewen Sheng, Yuan Zang, and Jia Zhao. The One Child Policy and its Impact on Chinese Families. Handbook of Families in Chinese Societies. 2008. Web. 2017.
The Manila Times. “On Mr. Duterte’s 3-Child Policy.” 2016. Web. 2017.
United Nations. “World Population Prospects - the 2010 Revision.” United Nations Population Division. 2010. Web. 2017.
Whyte, Martin King. “Modifying China’s One Child Policy.” E-International Relations Publishing. 2014. Web. 2017.
World Bank. Population: China. United States Census Bureau. 2016. Web. 2017.
