CASE STUDY: Explain Need For A National Fertility Policy, China Flashcards
(7 cards)
Intro
My case study is about the ONE CHILD POLICY IN CHINA
This need originated in 1950’s when the a pro natalist policy called the GREAT LEAF FORWARD PROGRAMME was initiated. This was designed to encourage higher birth rates and to rebuild and grow both the population and economy
This policy almost too successful as by 1979 the population reached 1 billion
PEOPLES PARTY of china recognised the urgent need for intervention and introduced the one child policy
Why: overpopulation
The need for the policy was clear, by 1960’s china was facing overpopulation
China only had 7% of the worlds ARABLE LAND and yet needed to support 22% of the worlds population
This lead to famines and between 1959-1961 a devastating 42 MILLION people died
Supplies also ran low, china struggled to provide its 700 million people with drinking water
Why: financial burden
The demographic imbalance created an overwhelming FINANCIAL BURDEN on the ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE population
With a rapidly growing youthful dependent population, taxes were heavily directed to neonatal care and education
Without this policy it was feared that the population could reach 2 BILLION which would lead to a drastic decline in the standard of living
What did the policy consist of
Introduced ONE CHILD POLICY in 1979
STRICT and EFFECTIVE
It aimed to increase LATER MARRIAGES in order to delay childbearing and REDUCE LIKELIHOOD OF LARGER FAMILIES
Parents who adhered to the one child policy where rewarded e.g 10% salary increase
However..
Strict policies meant strict consequences
FORCED ABORTIONS
FORCED STERILISATION
HEAVY FINES
To prevent additional births
Enforcement overseen by the GRANNY POLICY where elderly women in the communities were PAID to MONITOR younger women’s COMPLIANCE
How did the policy evolve overtime
Exceptions were introduced for families with DISABLED children and RURAL families with a firstborn daughter along with those affected by natural disasters
However, as the population aged the ECONOMIC BURDEN shifted towards supporting an increasingly ELDERLY population
From this the government realised they needed a new approach
July 2021 china officially ABANDONED the one child policy, removing all limits on family size
Was the policy successful
Despite its harshness, the policy was SUCCESSFUL as it achieved its goals
Birth rate fell from 33.4 per 1000 to 17 per 1000 within 5 years
Estimated that the policy prevented 400 MILLION births
As a result, chinas standard of living IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY
GDP per capita increased from $310 in 1980 to $8000 in 2015
China now
As of 2025 chinas demographic challenges continue to evolve
Population aging rapidly with a shrinking workforce to support the aging population
Despite removal of restrictions, birth rates have remained low due to COST OF LIVING, CAREER PRESSURES, and CHANGING SOCIAL ATTITUDES to family size
To increase population and family size, government have introduced initiatives like tax breaks and extended maternity
However, reversing the long term impacts of the one child policy remains a significant challenge for chinas policymakers
