Land of the Rising Son

LAND OF THE RISING SON In 1979, the National Population and Family Planning Commission in China enacted an ambitious program that called for strict population control. Families in various urban districts are urged to have only one child-preferably a son-in order to solve the problems related to overpopulation. What has happened since then and what are its implications for the future of China? CHANGE OF RULE HOW IT WORKS From the start of his Communist command in 1949 to his death in 1976, Chairman Mao saw a booming population as a healthy sign of the productivity necessary to catapult the country to global 停 success. As it is most traditionally enforced, couples are encouraged to have only one child. If that child is born a girl, After the second child, they would be discouraged from having any more children. parents would be allowed to have a second child in order to hapefully bear a son. Deng Xiaoping, Mao's successor, reversed the trend three years later when China became home to a quarter of the whole world's population and overcrowding was at the center of the blame for a stagnant economy. It was then that the one-child policy was born. PRESSURE FROM THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT EXCEPTIONS TO THE LAW HOW DO THE CHINESE FEEL ABOUT THE ONE CHILD POLICY? Theoretically, the one-child policy is voluntary, but the system comes with a set government-imposed rewards and penalties that vary widely according to local officials. FAMILIES LIVING IN RURAL AREAS? REWARDS FOR HAVING ONE CHILD: PENALTIES FOR HAVING MORE THAN ONE CHILD: CHILDREN BORN OVERSEAS FINES FROM HIGHER WAGES $370 TO $12,800 25 PERCENT 76 PERCENT SUPPORT IT of Chinese women of reproductive age have had at least one abortion. ETHNIC MINORITIES PRESSURES TO ABORT PREGNANCY INTEREST-FREE LOANS Each day in 2009, more than 35,000 DISABLED CHLDREN ) RETIREMENT FUNDS CONFISCATED forced abortions were performed in China. BELONGINGS PARENTS WHO WORK IN HIGH-RISK OCCUPATIONS PRIORITY HOUSING AND SCHOOL ENROLLMENT GETTING FIRED FROM WORK Pushed by a promotions-based system, local family planning officials are often encouraged to reach population targets by forcing abortions and tough punishments. In rural areas, the birth of a second child is only encouraged if it is spaced 4 to 5 years from the first. HAS IT BEEN SUCCESSFUL? IMPLICATIONS ABOUT GENDER FROM 1979 TO 2010: AVERAGE NUMBER OF BIRTHS PER CHINESE WOMAN COMPARED TO OTHER NATIONS Th e male-to-female birth rate in China surpasses the normal rate for all In 2010, China's fertility rate was 1.54 children per woman. This puts it 0.52 below the United States' total fertility rate and 1.02 below the world's average rate of 2.56. industrialized countries. With the amount of female infanticides and Since the policy's inception to 2010, the average number of children bom to each An estimated 400 MILLION abortions, many see the one-child policy, which favors boys over girls, as worsening the problem. woman in China fell by over 50 percent. births have been prevented due to the program. SINGAPORE 1.1 1.1 According to the latest available census data GERMANY 1.42 When the policy was introduced, the government's target population by the year 2000: CHINA: SWITZERLAND 1.46 120 male 1.2 BILLION births for every 100 girls CHINA 1.54 9000?????? 4 FRANCE 1.97 UNITED STATES 2.06 INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES: Population during the 2000 census: MEXICO 2.31 103 to 107 male dơơơơơơơợợơ O????????? 1.27 BILLION INDIA 2.65 births for every 100 girls NIGER 7.68 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 WORLD 2.56 PRIMARY SOURCES: CIA World Fact Book, New England Journal of Medicine. BBC, The British Medical Jourral, World Bank"Sex Ratios at Birth in China", Chen Wei Center for Population and Develooment Studies, People's University of China A COLLABORATION BETWEEN GOOD AND COLUMN FIVE