final paper

Running Head: POLICY 1

POLICY 4

Prince Mohamad Bin Fahd University

Summer 2020

Writing and Research 103

Assignment # 3: Introduction & Thesis

By

Saud AL Qahtani : ID 201901709

Introduction

After World War II, the government of China advised citizens to have as many children as possible. This resulted in the current population of 1.440 billion people. The government believed that children would bring more and more money into the economy (Goodkind, 2019, p. 10). The population increased abruptly, forcing the administration to implement the one-child policy. In 1970, the population of China was 818.3 million. The policy has led to a reduction in fertility rate. China has also seen a rise in female fetus abortion. Moreover, it has resulted in a shortage of workers. After the policy was employed, the number of abortions also increased. Some regions have executed a policy whereby if the firstborn child is a lady, the parents can need another baby (Carlsson, et al., 2018, p 11). 

However, there is no assurance that the second child would not be a lady. This creates another situation whereby abortion is seen as needed (Goodkind, 2019, p. 7). Babies born post-partum were also killed. China has more men as compared to women. In 2016, there were more than 1.1 million excess births of boys. Historically, a society in which males were significantly more than females is not a nice place to live since there is a high probability of violence. The policy has led to excess men who have little expectation of espousing. Since it is hard to look for companions, men have to purchase or bid for them. This has also resulted in China’s raised domestic saving rate, where close relatives have to squirrel away some cash in order to secure a wife for their son (Donaldson, et al., 2018, p.9). Since some of the children grow up with no siblings, they cannot socialize with society properly. Birth order also has an incredible impact on the growth of familial personality type (Liu, 2017, p. 30). 

Thesis Statement

The negative impact that the one-child policy has on the economy. The advantages and disadvantages of the one-child policy. The policy has had a significant effect on the economic future as well as the demographic. As a result of the policy, the country has more men than women (Hvistendahl, 2017, p. 12). With the preference for male children, China saw an increase in female fetus abortions, an increase in infanticide of baby girls, and an increase in the number of girls left in the orphanage. It also has a significant impact on marriage. Finally, this policy has led to the proliferation of undocumented, non-first born children. 

The policy has had an impact on people’s lives and their general activities. In 1980, the fertility rate began to decrease due to birth control pills as well as contraceptives. This reduced the fertility rate, and people were afraid of violating the policy. This has decreased the population significantly. There is a massive difference between death and birth rates. Men are more preferred to females because women will give birth and increase the population of the country, (Hvistendahl, 2017, p.20). 

Men are preferred because they are more productive, and they will improve the economy and build a strong army. Women have to overcome harsh and strict procedures of the policy, such as abortion. This polity attracted contradicting views (Kim, et al., 2018, p.29). Some of the people supported the system while other people objected to the system. However, everyone had to adapt to the new norm. In addition, this policy also interfered with the family affair and changed the economy. The economy was both positively as well as negatively affected by the policy. One of the advantages of this policy is that it decreased the family expenses. This means that people had a lot of capital for investment. Lastly, the plan helped to transform the role of women in society (Zhang, 2017, p. 20). 

References

Carlsson, F., Lampi, E., Martinsson, P., Tu, Q., & Yang, X. (2018). Long-run effects of family policies: An experimental study of the Chinese one-child system.

Donaldson, J. B., Koulovatianos, C., Li, J., & Mehra, R. (2018). Demographics and FDI: Lessons from China one-child policy (No. w24256). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Goodkind, D. (2019). Formal comment on “assessing the impact of the ‘one-child policy’in China: a synthetic control approach”. Plos one, 14(11), e0222705.

Hvistendahl, M. (2017). Analysis of China's one-child policy sparks uproar.

Kim, S. W., Brown, K. E., & Fong, V. L. (2018). How flexible gender identities give young women advantages in China’s new economy. Gender and Education, 30(8), 982-1000.

Liu, Y. (2017). Are women rising as half of the sky? An empirical study on women from the one-child generation and their higher education participation in contemporary China. Higher education, 74(6), 963-978.

Zhang, J. (2017). The evolution of China one-child policy and its effects on family outcomes. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(1), 141-60.