In the 70's decade, China was in great need for a drastic policy that would be able to control its ever-over growing population and to begin development in its country and thus the one-child policy was invented, if the policy had not been instituted, China would have faced severe famine and starvation as it would not have been able to cope with rapid growth or overpopulation. The policy was put into function in September 1981 and they called it ‘birth planning’ by which families were given a maximum limit of one child per family however in rural areas, couples were allowed to have two children and this was to help need on agricultural land and farming; those who try to breach this law would face severe consequences. The policy was considered as one of history’s most disordered engineering since the policy deeply intervened with families plans for the future and affected how most Chinese families would function in terms of having children. The policy controlled by the Chinese government was said not to last no longer than a single generation and it was only recently (2 years ago) replaced by a slightly less ambitious policy called the "2 Child Policy." The one-child policy can also be shortened to OCP, its acronym. Chairman Mao, who led China from 1949 until his death in 1976, regarded a fast-growing population as a productive force necessary for China to become a great power. Therefore this leads to the disastrous overpopulation.
The one-child policy was not all pain and suffering. After this policy was issued in China, the insane increase in the population was put to a stop. The birth rate went from 30% down to 10%. The population increase rate went from 40% (1960) down to 11% (2011). China’s economy improved from poverty and famine to the best economy in the world. In China, where culture and economic activities were still 'rooted in the old ways," as quoted by the New York Times. Too many births added to the serious problems of poverty. As a means to improve the way of life and develop these poor areas, the government had introduced family planning. Keeping population growth under control was seen as an effective way to eradicate poverty in the country. In other parts of China, the One Child Policy is also necessary to ensure a comfortable and healthy life with jobs, food and other resources kept in sufficient supply. In fact, the gradual decline in the poverty rate is considered a direct result of the One Child Policy. While it is a mandatory policy, there are certain circumstances where couples were excepted from the One Child Policy. Very wealthy people were given rights to have multiple children, provided that they pay a hefty fine. Couples who have a severely handicapped child can also have another baby. The exceptions, however, have no clear-cut rules, and only government officials could make a decision for each individual case. Ethnic minorities throughout China were also exempt from the policy, so that they could have more physical workers in their farming.
If the Chinese did not decrease their population, they would not have enough jobs to go around, this would mean that people will be dwindling in the unemployment zone without any money to live on. Major Urban areas would become severely overcrowded, a big city area such as Beijing would have too many people concentrated in that area, especially since urbanization in China has risen and by 2035, 70% of Chinese people living in China are expected to live in urban areas. That is over 700,000,000 people. This will result in sheer overcrowding; the country will not be able to provide homes for that many people. The country will have nowhere near enough resources to sustain this high population rate. Also by reducing the number of people in the country, it will boost other aspects of social factor such as; tourism would become lucrative in China because there won’t be so many people overpopulating cities. Also, children in China will be able to compete better in school so people who are not as bright will be able to stand a fighting chance of competing in education.
But of course, everything has its dark side. The gender imbalance among new-borns is the most serious demographic problem for the country's population of 1.3 billion, says the academy. It cites sex-specific abortions as a major factor, due to China's traditional bias towards male children. The academy says gender selection abortions are "extremely common". This is especially true in rural areas, and ultrasound scans, first introduced in the late 1980s, have increased the practice. Sons are preferred so that they can carry out farm work, provide financial support for aging parents and ensure the continuance of the family name, meanwhile, the One-Child Policy and other legal restrictions on fertility inadvertently placed an even higher premium on bearing male children. This obviously leads to a massive gender imbalance. In 2005, China had 119 male births for every 100 female births, according to a study in 2009. But one the graph above, we can observe that the gender ratio is coming back to equilibrium in recent years, it was down to 100:106 in 2015 and is yet going down. Right now the ratio is 115 men for every 100 women making it very difficult for many Chinese men seeking a wife to live with.
Running parallel to this disadvantage was the "Little Emperor" syndrome. They became the “spoilt generation” of teenagers who didn’t experience the joys and heartache of sibling rivalry or share and share alike. Because of the reason they were single child, they therefore became useless and less competitive making their careers and life in the future struggle. This could have been a bad thing for china's Global reputation, but it was also a patriotic let down since all children became less intelligent and the skill of independence since the parents did every thing for them, unlike the 1950's where it was the older siblings who looked after the younger and competed between each other for clothes, food and maybe cash.
Couples who complied with the One Child Policy, and they have been given a certificate stating that they only have a single child. This certificate buys them some pretty good benefits. Some of these include completely interest free loans, free public health care for the whole family, subsidies for education and housing, and a much longer maternity leave. All of these things were very beneficial to the Chinese people. Another pro to the one child policy, is that the problem of overcrowding wasn’t just a matter of space. Jobs became very sparse, as well as food and other resources necessary to live a comfortable and healthy life. Because of the huge growth in people, many were living in extreme poverty conditions. After the one child policy took effect, the poverty rate slowly began to decline in the country. Therefore the GDP exploded and the economy
In conclusion, but more like, from my point, even though it was the gruesome one-child policy, it was also a very successful policy since its actual aim was to reduce China's population growth, and not it population itself. Though alongside this, there were many harsh draw backs, like gender imbalance, incompetent children, or global reputation let down. But if we are talking about effectiveness and success it is definitely a yes from me, though from the moral and human side of me, it is an obvious no.