Topic: Population & Settlement Case Study: Population Management – The one Child Policy Location: China Geographical Keywords • Population pyramid • Dependency ratio • Elderly dependents • Female infanticide • Contraception • Family planning • Spare branches • Little Emperor • Natural increase • Communist • One Child Policy Case Study Detail Background China has the largest population of any country in the world and has done so for many years. In 1979, the communist government introduced the one child policy, whereby couples were only allowed to have one child. This was an attempt to slowdown the population growth which the government though would create an unsustainable demand of the country’s resources. Management The policy was implemented in a number of ways • Couples having only one child has access to free education, healthcare and benefits • Those having 2 or more had benefits removed. • Couples with one child paid less tax than those with more • Family planning officers persuaded women that having one child was in the best interest of the country and encouraged the use of family planning, abortion and sterilisation. • Parents who had 2 children were fined and made to pay for education and healthcare. Important note: In 2013, China relaxed its one child policy so now couples may have 2 children. This is because of China’s aging population and gender imbalance which was thought to be economically unsustainable. Impacts of the policy The policy has reduced the growth of China’s population, although has had a number of negative consequences Social: It has created the 4-2-1 problem, where one child will have to support 2 parents and 4 grandparents. The means China will have a high dependency ratio in the future. It has also created little emperors, single children who are spoilt and may not be able to socialise as well as children with brothers and sisters. Also, boys are preferred to girls, and selective termination has occurred meaning that now there are 30 million more boys than girls. These are known as spare branches because they may never find wives when they grow up. In addition to this, many girls have been abandoned or put up for adoption because of the preference for boys. In the worst cases girls have been killed at birth in the hope of having a boy (female infanticide) Economic: China is already suffering from alack of workers in its rapidly growing economy. Already, China’s economic growth has slowed possibly due to alack of economically active people. Additionally, China’s high dependency ratio means that they may struggle to provide adequate healthcare, pensions and housing for elderly dependents in the future.
