4.4 Management of natural increase Case Study

Question 1

What was the problem in China?

Answer 1

• in 1949 when Chinese communist party came to power, they encouraged a high birth rate in order to have more people to produce food and to build and strong army
• population grew from 540 million to 830 million in twenty years
• famine in 1961

Question 2

What was the one child policy?

Answer 2

• introduced in 1979 planned to last 100 years
• couples who only had one child were given benefits like longer maternity leave, better housing, free healthcare and free education for their one child
• if couple has second child, benefits topped and they were fined a proportion of their income

Question 3

How did the gov try to support the policy?

Answer 3

• to support policy the gov introduced:
• law to prevent people marrying before a certain age
• free contraception and family planning advice
• permission slip to allow a couple to try for a child
• very late abortions to terminate second pregnancies
• free sterilisation for couples already with one child

Question 4

What are the future troubles due to China’s one child policy?

Answer 4

• improved healthcare and better food supplies mean the death rate in China is now only 8 per thousand per year
• as the chines population ages, the single child will have to support two ageing parent and four grandparents :4-2-1 problem
• single children tend to be indulged and even spoilt. means they may not be able to work well with others when they grow up.
• because of preference for sons rather than daughters, now 30 million more young men than young women in China. May not fin wives = social problems

Question 5

How has the policy been effective?

Answer 5

• fertility rate dropped from 2.9 in 1979 to 1.8 in 2009
• policy has prevented 400 million births and Chinese population much lower than it used to be
• ## fewer resources have been used and people have a higher standard of living and quality of life then they would have had with a bigger population