1. CHINA’S ONE-CHILD POLICY

2. "For a prosperous, powerful nation and a happy family, please use birth planning." ~Government sign in Nanchang.

3. How did it begin? China – Mao Zedong formed Communist government in 1949. Encouraged the increase of a population already at 540 million. He saw this as a way to make China into a great power.

4. How did it begin? China – Great Leap Forward / Cultural Revolution (1958-60) An economic and social campaign intended to use the vast population to radically increase China’s agricultural production while maintaining high industrial growth. More people had children to fuel the increase in agricultural and industrial production.

5. How did it begin? By 1974 China’s population swelled to 853 million. Mao died in 1976. The One Child Policy came into existence in 1979.

6. WHAT IS IT? China’s One Child Policy is a policy that the Communist Chinese government, under Deng Xiaoping, introduced in 1979 to try and solve the problem of overpopulation/ population growth that was created by Mao’s policies.

7. WHAT IS IT? It’s main purpose was to make sure that China could support its large population with facilities such as healthcare, education, housing, good jobs and most importantly, food.

8. WHAT IS IT? The aim was to reduce poverty and to improve overall quality of life for the people while curbing population growth.

9. Enforcement The policy is not formally written into Chinese law but it is strictly enforced with three main goals: 1) Favouring delayed marriage and delayed child birth

10. Enforcement 2) Favouring fewer and healthier births, rather than more unsuccessful ones 3) Laying down the rule of one child per couple

11. Enforcement The One Child Policy is very hard to enforce. However, the presence of it has definitely played a part in improving China’s overpopulation problem.

12. Enforcement + Penalties However, enforcement/penalties often include: Fines Pressures to abort a pregnancy Forced sterilization accompanies second or subsequent pregnancies

13. Enforcement + Penalties Penalties are given to anyone found breaking the policy: Paid in money = up to 10,000 Yuans (approx. $1,800.00 Cdn) Paid in livestock = precious for families as food

14. Enforcement + Penalties Most recently (2012) penalties included: Fines of $40,000 (Cdn) were issued Loss of job (fired)

15. Enforcement & Benefits “Benefits” such as rice rations are not given to families with more than one child In other words, families that have followed the One Child Policy will get rice as a “reward”

16. Enforcement & Benefits In some rural areas, peasants are encouraged to have more than one child to increase the amounts received from punishment fines = The money is then used to benefit the community and improve living conditions

17. Urban vs. Rural It is not an all-encompassing rule because it has always been restricted to ethnic Han Chinese living in urban areas (cities). Yet this rule is also indiscriminately applied to rural (country) populations in certain cases.

18. Urban vs. Rural Citizens living in rural areas and minorities living in China are not subject to the law – they are able to have two children: 50% of China’s population lives in the countryside

19. Urban vs. Rural There are also other circumstances where a couple may be entitled to have another child if they wish: If a husband and wife are both from a one child family, they are permitted to raise two children Couples are also entitled if their first child is born mentally or physically disabled or dies

20. Consequences for Female Infants Because of a cultural preference for boys this rule has caused: A disdain for female infants Abortion of female fetuses Neglect of female children Abandonment of female children Infanticide of female children

21. Consequences for Female Infants Infanticide: is the killing of a human infant Neonaticide: a killing within 24 hours of a baby's birth; is most commonly done by the mother 1,000 female children are abandoned everyday in China

22. Consequences for Female Infants All the previously mentioned issues have been known to occur to female infants because of the cultural preference for boys: Boys are thought to be the only ones who can carry on the family name and/or take care of aging parents

23. Population: Gendered Consequences The result of such family planning has resulted in the disparate ratio of 116+/- males for every 100+/- females among babies from birth through children four years of age Normally, 105+/- males are naturally born for every 100+/- females

24. Consequences for Females Because there are 40 million more men than women, women and girls face severe challenges/threats: Violent crimes/gang warfare Physical and sexual abuse (rape) Kidnapping Forced into the sex trade Forced marriages Abductions Human Trafficking War (civil)

25. Consequences for Females In regards to girls and women who have been kidnapped and sold (human trafficking), they tend to lead miserable lives (beaten, raped, treated as slaves, prisoners) Although there is an increase in kidnappings, families also sell their daughters ($435)

26. Consequences for Females Many female infants and girls have who have been abandoned or given up for adoption end up in orphanages that are over spilling with females Some will be adopted by Europeans and North Americans Many will spend their lives in the orphanage

27. The Effects: “Little Emperor Syndrome” The “Little Emperor Syndrome” has been widely reported (spoiled, obese, lazy, single boy children) These are mainly male children who have been raised in single-child families and feel no sense of obligations to their families or societies at large

28. Gender Divisions Effects/Results Children are becoming far too spoilt! Parents are treating their only children like royalty, and obese, demanding boys are being seen far too often now and they will have big problems when they reach their teens. This policy was meant to improve living conditions!

29. The Effects: “Bachelor Boom” Now China has a problem of roving gangs of men looking to settle down but there are not enough women for all the men Bachelor Boom – too many males, not enough females

30. Gender Divisions Effects/Results FORGET BABY BOOM…WHAT ABOUT THIS BACHALOR BOOM This ridiculous attempt of a policy is seriously affecting China’s sex ratio. Since the 1980s, our ratio has become completely disfigured and the male to female ratio is now 116:100. So much for killing of baby girls and an increase in abortion rates. China could have completely devastated it’s future as there will soon be a shortage in the number of young fertile women and then there will be even fewer births. China is forcing young men to remain single, there to be an increase in prostitution and the status of women will go down in an already overpowering male society. What a disaster!

31. The Other Effects: Rural to Urban The growing rural population is putting more pressure on farmland This is leading to a massive migration of younger, rural populations to the city to look for work

32. The Other Effects: Aging Population People born after the 1949 Cultural Revolution in China are aging Increased life expectancy means that the 400 million Chinese born before the introduction of the one-child policy will have fewer people working to support them

33. Gender Divisions Effects/Results GOVERNMENT’S OUT OF ORDER The One Child Policy is having negative effects on China’s population too. There will soon be, and already is a sign of an ageing population which will mean the government will have to put more money onto healthcare and pensions with fewer youngsters around to carry out the work. By the year 2025, the percentage of over 65s in China could reach 30% and instead of the traditional method of children caring for their elders, China’s elderly will have to be put into social retirement care as there won’t be enough youngsters to support them.

34. IT MAKES SENSE!? OBEY DISOBEY 1.You will get a higher standard of education for your child. 2.There is an increased role for both parents in the workplace. 3.You will be provided with support about other birth control measures. 1.Your second child and any others you decide to have will be unregistered. 2.Your second child will not receive any authorised education. 3.You will not be supported with future child birth control ☑☒

35. Policy: To Be Continued The rule has been estimated to have reduced population growth in the country of 1.3 billion by as much as 300 million people over its first twenty years = population reduction has occurred in the hundreds of millions

36. Policy: To Be Continued China has proclaimed that it will continue its One Child Policy, which limits couples to having one child, through the 2008-2012+ five-year- planning-periods. Experts are calling on/pressuring the Chinese government to phase out the policy by 2015.

37. Policy: “The Two Child Policy” December 2013 – the Chinese Communist government has recently made resolution to allow some families to have two children. The new laws are due to come into effect in early 2014 and will apply to couples where one parent is his- or herself an only child.

38. Policy: To Be Continued China’s population today: 1,374,682,238 (August 2015)

39. EVALUATION: Overall, China’s One Child policy has ultimately done what it set out to do. Yet, it cannot be hailed a success as there have also been some serious consequences including a rise in prostitution, a lack of fertile women within the middle age group, a rise in the number of unregistered children and a host of other problems. China was getting to a point where it was going to become drastically overpopulated and the government was right to try and implement a system which would reduce numbers.

40. EVALUATION: Many people (researchers) think that the whole system has been a fiasco and that the government went too far in trying to implement this rule. There is a vast shortage in females compared to males and this has made China and even more male dominated country than it already was. China may have began to control it’s population, but has it really solved the problem of bring the country up to date and created a better standard of living for its people?

41. Evaluation: Human Rights The One Child Policy is challenged in principle and in practice for violating human rights Reported abuses in its enforcement include bribery, coercion, forced sterilization, forced abortions, infanticide, abuse and human trafficking, with most reports coming from rural areas

42. Evaluation: Human Rights The effort to adhere to the policy included using portable ultrasound devices to identify abortion candidates in remote villages Reports show that women as far along as 8.5 months pregnant were forced to abort by injection of saline solution

43. Evaluation: Human Rights There have also been reports where women, in their 9th month of pregnancy or who were already in labour, had their fetus killed whilst in the birth canal or immediately after birth. Many researches state the One Child Policy is "an ongoing genocide” + it is a “gendercide.”

44. Evaluation: Human Rights Genocide = the systematic killing of human beings because of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity/race, religion etc. Gendercide = the systematic killing of human beings based on their gender (women or men)

45. Another Population Control Option = Education Providing females with free elementary + secondary education and access to post- secondary education will increase their social status

46. Another Population Control Option This will then led to higher access/demand for birth control methods because of their work and educational aspirations = an effective and humane way to control population growth

47. LET’S DISCUSS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CHINA’S ONE CHILD POLICY? DO YOU AGREE OF DISAGREE? WHY OR WHY NOT?

48. LET’S DISCUSS: DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE THE NEEDS OF THEIR COUNTRY INTO ACCOUNT WHEN MAKING DECISIONS ON THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN TO HAVE? WHY OR WHY NOT?

49. ACTIVITY TWO COLUMN CHART ON CHINA’S ONE CHILD POLICY PROS + CONS SMALL GROUPS