Shirley RenENG 101-11 12 December 2014 Can China Afford to Continue with Its One-Child Policy? The Chinese government has implemented social programs designed to support birth control since the 1920s-1930s in order to “contain” the growing population. As Rosenberg and Qicheng state, “When we think about what factors are going to affect the world, population is absolutely at the top of the list” (53). In the mid 1950s, the Chinese government gradually incorporated family planning and birth control measures. In 1971, the government launched the first family planning initiative known as the “wan-xi-shao” meaning “later marriages, longer period between births and fewer children” (Pascu 106). Since September 1980, the government has formally adopted the “one-child” policy and couples who violate this policy face a variety of punishments, from fines and loss of employment to forced abortions (Xuefeng 75). That is to say, the one-child family has become the norm for urban Chinese families. It is believed that this generation of one-child families has had a tremendous influence and has dramatically changed family structure, family relationships, and family lifestyle in China, which has introduced problems for the Chinese society. It has also resulted in problems and issues not previously present in Chinese families, such as smaller families, a simplification of family structure, a shift from parent-centered families to child centered families, and changes in living patterns. The Chinese government has lessened its strong enforcement of the one-child policy since its implementation. However, actions should be taken by the government to completely eliminate the policy. The government should loosen its enforcement on the policy and should fully reject Ren 2 the one-child policy as it present political, psychological, and social problems that would result in serious consequences to those one-child families. Opponents of this position would argue that having only one child has an economic advantage. Economically, the one-child family is rewarded with extravagant amount of extra benefits that they are given due to their obedience to the law. One-child families have become a popular trend these days, as statistics show that many developed nations such as the United States tend to have a high number of single- child households due to the lower cost of having only one child and raising them more effectively (Xiao-Tian 22). Rewards are given to couples who have only one child; in addition, monetary awards are given until the child turns fourteen years of age (Rosenberg and Qicheng 53). Households that decide to have only one child have better living standards. Families with one child tend to enjoy luxurious benefits given by the government such as free nursery care, medical care, and primary school tuition (Xiao-Tian 25). From an interview with Mengyi Zhang, who is an only child from China studying at Emory, she informed me that people get monthly compensations from the government for having only one child. As the family has fewer people in the household, the child tends to receive better care. Zhang informed me that people who have connections with the Chinese government can actually negotiate their fine when they have more than one-child. Rosenberg and Qicheng concluded in their study of middle school students that showed 80% of only children received milk in their daily diet, while only 12% of children with siblings consumed milk on a daily basis (58). The weight and height of single children have a tendency to be greater than those who have siblings due to the better diet that parent are able to offer. Therefore, only children are able to grow up in a more comfortable and relaxed environment. Ren 3 The original single-child policy, proposed by the Chinese government (Communist party) in 1979 and instituted by 1982, incorporated bonuses for those who limited their family to one child and penalties for those who broke the policy. Before 1979, Chinese families would have an average of four children until the policy was enacted (Hatton). Since the enactment of the policy, children did not have siblings, instead they forge a close relationship with their cousins, as Chinese would use the terms “brother” and “sister” to describe cousins. The policy was supposed to be a short-term measure; however, the policy has continued for over 35 years. It is slowly starting to relax in some provinces and a change in the rule has occurred in November 2013, following the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (Hatton). China announced the decision to relax the one-child policy, which allows couples who both came from one-child families to have a second child (Hatton). This emphasizes that China is slowly experiencing change. However, many local governments still demand abortions if the pregnancy violates local regulations, or even force abortions on women violating the policy (Xuefeng 75). The one-child policy, today, seems to appear to sustain because of its widespread acceptance by the Chinese people. The negative consequences would continue to sustain if nothing is done to the policy now. China’s overpopulation was “contained” with the institution of the one-child policy. However, the government did not think about future consequences. The abandonment of the one child policy will be good for the future and it would solve the impact that one child has on future generations as people that qualify for a second child will not want another child anymore due to the psychological and financial problems that they think they will have to face. The psychological problem of being raised in a one-child household is one of the most important issues in China. The parents with one child place a lot of pride in their child; as a Ren 4 result, the child tries harder to fulfill his or her parents’ expectations. The child tries to become smarter and develops a strong desire to learn. As there is only one child in the family, the parents place more emphasis on that one child’s future. Chinese children enter school at an early age and have playmates at school rather than at home (McLoughlin 312). Instead of hanging out or playing with friends outside of school, the child seem to focus more on schoolwork. In comparison to the traditional society of China, where there was the presence of a sibling, the children had a better social and emotional development. The rapidly improving living standard in China has developed educational and social pressure on only child. Also, the child suffers from loneliness because they lack company of their own age at home. Hence, if the child has siblings to play with, the child would learn the ideals of sharing, caring, and loving. Likewise, the older sibling serves as a role model for the younger sibling as they can learn from the mistakes of the other. The increase of the dependency ratio in China by the one-child policy with the aging population phenomenon leads to the child having to take care of his or her parents when they are old and cannot work anymore. This leads to lots of responsibility for the only child as he or she has no one to share the task with. The lone adult child is left with having to provide support for his or her two parents and four grandparents and even his own family who consists of a wife and child (Pascu 108). However, if the child has siblings, the responsibility could be shared which would not cause a huge burden to the small family. Also, if the family only has one child, if the only child dies, then the rest of the family will not have mental and economic support in the future. The one-child policy places a huge economic burden on the single Chinese children, which the older generations would be left entirely dependent upon their very small family. The parent would mourn for a long period of time, as they would not have any other child to worry Ren 5 and care about. Hence, if the Chinese government eliminates the policy, families would have multiple children. If a family has multiple children, the other child would help get the parent out of the mourning period earlier and continue to provide psychological and financial support for the family. The issues of responsibility and liability are of great importance when dealing with the physiological well being of the child and parent since any harm to the child would be a devastating loss to the family. The empty-nest syndrome is a feeling of grief and loneliness parents may feel when their children have left home (Rosenberg and Qicheng 62). Empty-nest syndrome can result in depression and a loss of purpose for parents, since the departure of the children from “the nest” leads to adjustments in parents' lives. The “empty nests” of being an only child can be a great concern. After sending my cousins to colleges outside of China, most of my aunts and uncles experience the “empty nest” syndrome, especially my aunts, because they had devoted their entire lives to the family by being stay-at-home moms. Hence, most Chinese mothers’ senses of success comes from that of their husbands and children. Then, suddenly when the only child leaves home for university, they feel lonely, sad, useless and depressive. Emptynest parents often face new challenges, such as establishing a new kind of relationship with their children, having to find other ways to occupy their free time and reconnecting with each other (Narka 137). Parents find it difficult to suddenly have no children at home who need their care. Hence, the idea of having more than one child is great for the parent as the parent could adjust quickly and positively to focusing more on the other child’s activities and hobbies. This helps get the parent’s mind off of thinking about the child that just left home. The high levels of intimacy between parents and children are used to compensate for the absence of siblings in Chinese society. However, the socialization of children plays an important Ren 6 role in the development of the children’s intellectual ability and personality. Most of Western literature depicts the only child as self-centered, spoiled, and impulsive (Narka 137). Some parents may over-indulge their only child that will result in a higher tendency toward poor social communication and cooperation skills among the new generation, as they have no siblings at home. While the only child grows up in a “four grandparents, two parents, and one child” environment with family members that greatly cared for them, they develop “The Little Emperor Syndrome”(McLoughlin 307). This syndrome is what many refer to when children gets a great amount of attention which leads them to become self-centered. Also, the child receives a vast amount of care from their surroundings which makes them spoiled, due to the enormous amounts of attention they are getting from their parents, grandparents, and relatives. My aunts and uncles treat their child as the “emperors” of their families by giving them what they want, which has lead to unlimited spending on luxurious items. I believe that the way a child is raised will lead to the way a child will act when he or she grows older. Because of all the attention they receive from my aunt and uncle, my cousins are self-centered and believe that everything they state is correct and that everyone should listen to them. The excessive amount of attention combined with increased spending power of the parents' general desire for their child to experience the benefits they themselves were denied, the “Little Emperor” phenomenon is considered to be problematic (Pascu 108). Hence, if the family had more than one child, the attention would be share between the siblings. Siblings would learn to resolve conflicts and build teamwork, which is an asset in the child’s future when he or she starts to work. From my own personal experience being raised with siblings has allowed me to be more social, interactive, and cooperative. The one-child policy has brought an important concern by the vast difference in the gender ratio that will lead to social problems. China’s one-child policy is responsible for millions Ren 7 of “lost girls” and an unbalanced gender ratio that will leave an estimated 30 million or more Chinese men who will be looking for a wife in 2020 but unable to find one (Wen). Many believe that the simplistic reasoning behind the one-child policy might be responsible for the next demographic crisis. There is a gender imbalance in China. In the Chinese culture, the girl leaves behind her family after marriage to continue her life in her husband’s family (Wen). This cultural rule makes boys more valuable than girls. Thus, many girls get abandoned right after birth. This affects society and the life of those unregistered girls who are killed by their parents (Pascu 107). The one-child policy should be removed and prohibited because of the unbalance of males and females. Pascu states in her finding that “the preference for boys became obvious in 1987, when the world press announced that the Chinese orphanages sheltered half a million girls, double, even triple their number before the enforcement of said law, the proportion in orphanages being of 27-36 boys to 100 girls” (106). As newly invented devices designed to find out the gender of the babies became available, the families got the option of either abortion or abandoning the baby (Wen). When a child is born and it happens to be a girl, some families choose not to register their child, in which the baby would have no identity, no rights, no benefits, and no protection by the state. The child would not exist. In the future of China, we can see the unbalanced ratio of grooms to brides. In addition, there tend to be an increase of crime rates in areas where the one-child policy is strictly applied and where there are more males adolescents (Pascu 107). If the one child policy were eliminated, parents would be able to have more children. This would allow the girls that are born into the family to not get abandon by their parents. Hence, Chinese girls would benefit by being born into the household as they receive more love, affection, and resources from their parents. Thus, the elimination of China’s one-child policy will allow the female population to increase in rural and urban areas. Ren 8 The one-child policy has a direct impact on my life as most of my dad's relatives live in China. Most of my cousins are only children so their upbringings differ greatly from how my brothers and I have been raised. Even though my parents devoted their time and resources to help my brothers and I receive a college education, we had to work for what we wanted. My brothers and I have been raised on the idea that “the world does not surround us” which meant if we wanted something, we had to work for it. My parents always taught us that “prosperity comes with hard work” and that what we get comes from our own success and dedication. My parents did not experience the harsh “empty nest” syndrome because when my older brother went to college, my other brother had to start applying for college. They were too busy to experience loneliness. However, being the youngest, when I went to college, my parents had previously been so busy stressing and worrying about my and my brothers’ education that they wanted to have time to themselves when I left for college. I think by having more than one child, it allows the parents to actually enjoy parenthood, instead of just experiencing it. The government has already stopped its strong enforcement on the one-child policy since its implementation. However, actions should be taken to continue to loosen the enforcement of the one-child policy and to eventually totally eliminate the policy. McLoughlin states, “Although the ultimate goal is the one-child family, the practical reality is a target of fewer children regardless of whether this means three children rather than four” (308). China is slowly experiencing change in the area as the government is allowing more couples to have multiple children. By eliminating the one-child policy, China can continue its trend of becoming one of the top countries by focusing on the conservation of resources, investment in infrastructure, and expansion of pension and health-care reforms. Thus, eliminating the one-child policy is the most effective way of bringing a brighter future and prosperity to China. Ren 9 Works Cited Hatton, Celia. "A Side-effect of China's One-child Policy." BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25035280>. McLoughlin, Caven S. "The Coming-Of-Age Of China's Single-Child Policy." Psychology In The Schools 42.3 (2005): 305-313. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. Nakra, Prema. "China's "One-Child" Policy: The Time For Change Is Now." World Future Review (World Future Society) 4.2 (2012): 134-140. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. Pascu, Mihai Lucian. 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