Update on China
In 1979, the Chinese government
introduced the 'One Child Policy', limiting couples to one child. This
form of 'population control' has caused controversy ever since.
Under the 'One Child Policy', every birth has to be approved by family planning officials. With one child, families receive free education, priority housing, pensions and family benefit, but these are withdrawn if they have a second, and couples face a fine for every additional birth. In the early years of the policy, women who were visibly pregnant for a second time were encouraged to have an abortion, even late into the pregnancy. In addition, hundreds of thousands of women have been sterilized.
Young girls have been another casualty. As many parents prefer to have a son to carry on the family name, some take drastic action if their first born is likely to be a girl. Over 90% of all aborted foetuses in China are female. Meanwhile, many young girls have ended up in orphanages, abandoned and sometimes badly treated. Others have been secretly killed. As a result, the sex ratio is increasingly unbalanced. Today, there may be 100 million more men than women in China.
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©Chris Stowers/Panos Pictures. |
Poorer families in the countryside have strongly resisted the 'One Child Policy'. They need children to work the land, and some have had more children despite the risk of heavy fines. But without registration as a citizen, the newborn child is doomed to a hidden life, with no right to education or a decent job. |
In December 2001, the government took steps to soften the policy. Families in rural areas are now officially allowed two children if their first-born child is a girl. Meanwhile, ethnic minorities are allowed two or three children because they represent only a fraction of China's population and often live in hostile environments. Today, a new fund to help children is paid for by the fines from couples that break the rules. The Chinese government has also introduced measures that will improve the position of women by giving them more opportunities in education and jobs.
China's population is now 1.3 billion. The Chinese government argues that without the 'One Child Policy', there could have been 320 million more mouths to feed. But education and health care has also played a part in reducing China's birth rate, and Kerala has experienced even greater falls in the birth rate without population control.
