China has been a standout country regarding civilization that has outpaced other world nations in sciences and arts for the past centuries. Nonetheless, it is also unfortunate that over the last decade, the country has plummeted economically. According to analysts, the prime cause of the economic downfall is the apparent increase in the population of the country. Studies have shown that the population that was approximately 426 million people at the start of this century is now projected to be about 1.2 billion people. Apparently, it has been clarified that roughly two-thirds of the understated 900 million people increase that has been registered occurred in the past 50 years. The figure means that the mainland China only contributes to approximately 20% of the world’s population. It is in that regard that the Chinese government decided that something had to be done quickly to address the population increase.
The government was apparent that with the current rate of population growth, the chances are that the country will register adverse economic implications sometimes in the future. Hence, the fact that it is the role of the government to make sure that it creates a sustainable population that can support its people means that it was also its obligation to come up with a policy that could be applied to contain the pending concern. Thus, the country decided to design a population control plan that was known as China’s one-child policy. Effects of two children policy in its economic relations with the US
The US and China are great trading partners for centuries. Apparently, the government of China has decided to revise its policy that requires couples to have one child into two because of the alarming number of ageing population. The measure will mean that China will have sufficient workforce that can be employed in its manufacturing and industrial processes. Hence, despite the fact that economists had questioned China’s one-child policy because of its future economic implications, there is some light in the tunnel with the two children policy. That means that the country will be in a position to maintain its trading and economic relations with the United States if the current projections are right regarding the total amount of workforce that will be required for foreseeing the economic development of the country.
Thesis statement
China’s one-child policy was a significant step for the Chinese government for various reasons. First, the policy was the cornerstone of creating a sense of economic sustainability in the country because it advocated for delayed marriages that in turn reduced the chances of bearing children. Second, the policy helped the country to not only achieve few births; it also necessitated the attainment of healthier births. Third and finally, the system could allow only one child per couple.
Arguments
First, the policy was the cornerstone of creating a sense of economic sustainability in the country because it advocated for delayed marriages that in turn reduced the chances of bearing children. It was imperatively evident that China will have problems in meeting the needs of its population if the population trend was allowed to continue. Delayed marriages limited the time that the Chinese people took before starting families. Hence, the chances of getting many children were also constrained.
Second, the policy helped the country to not only achieve few births; it also necessitated the attainment of healthier births. The current economy is full of competition. Apparently, countries that can invest in industrialization and other ways of production emerged as competitive. Thus, the fact that the economy of China relied on manufacturing meant that the country was in dire needs of good citizens to help the country in production processes.
Third and finally, the policy could allow only one child per couple. Strict laws were stipulated for couples that went against that law. Hence, whereas the country was working hard to create a sense of economic stability, the family was also provided with the opportunity for being sustainable by having the number of children that they could support without necessarily requiring the support of the government. As a result, the country achieved a new dimension of economic priority where it redirected its focus on critical economic issues that have helped them thus far to climb the economic ladder.
Counterargument
China’s one-child policy was morally incorrect. It is justified that when the system was first introduced, the consent of infanticide took the course. There are some instances where it was a legal obligation for a couple to kill their infant if it was a girl. In China, gender mattered a lot with the male children being regarded as the superior sex in contrast to female children. It was believed that it was a mandate for any Chinese family to have a male child to attain respect. In that same regard, they also thought that the male was instrumental for carrying down the name of their ancestors and the fact that they wanted the reputations of their ancestors in the next generations means that they had no option but to apprehend the role of the male child. Thus, whenever couples had female children, they opted to turn on infanticide. Others would decide to abandon the child in the wilderness or even choose to kill on their own. With the apparent development in technology, the Chinese people found that it was possible to determine the gender of the child before birth thereby subjecting women to abortion upon the conception of female children. As a result, the sex ratio became a great challenge for the country to address.
Conclusion
From the above argument, it is imperatively evident that China’s one-child policy was a great system that could have helped the country to construct economic sustainability. The current world is very competitive with nations trying to dominate over the rest regarding economic viability. That means that ensuring that domestic concerns have been addressed is necessarily paramount. Thankfully, China’s one-child policy provided the nation with a great platform for focusing on improving its means of productions and other measures of economic development. Thus, it is logical to state that despite the fact that the policy has had objections from different social groups, it will prove necessary entering into the hard economic times of the future.
- Fitzpatrick, Laura. “China’s One-Child Policy.” Time Magazine on the web(2009).
- Potts, Malcolm. “China’s one child policy.” British Medical Journal 7564 (2006): 361.
- Rosenberg, Matt. “China’s One Child Policy.” Geography. about. com 2 (2011).
