The One-child Policy

The One-child Policy

            Population start to become a big controversy in China by the middle of the twentieth century. It was a serious problem for a slowly developing country. In the early 1960s, the population grew dramatically throughout the country. However, at the same time, China did not have professional medical help, had bad agriculture, also suffered from lack of food. China was struggling because of  many years of civil war that caused poverty and disaster all over the country.  Therefore, in 1979, the one child policy was established by the government. It was enforced and mandatory. This not only solved the problem of the population. Moreover, it improved the quality of life because fewer children to take care and government offered the free education. However, that also caused parents to have sex selective abortion or female infanticide. My parents were one of the couples forced to sterilize, because they wanted to have a male to carry on the family line. Although I was only five, I was impacted in my childhood.

             At the beginning, one child policy made my parents spoil my brother instead of paying attention to me. In Chinese culture, men have always been more important than women because men pass on their family’s last name. My brother was the only boy in my family. Therefore, my parents would give all love, attention, and support to him. However, despite that I became a strong and confident child. My parents raised me as a boy  because I needed to do all the housework instead of my brother. I couldn’t forget when I was eight, I worked in the field with my parents while it was harvest season. My brother never came to help. Even though he was having fun and I was working hard, I didn’t feel an imbalance because while I worked, I also built up my body. Moreover, I was constantly exercising myself physically and spiritually. I became a tough, positive and motivational person. This has benefited my whole life.

             With the one child policy, if my parents want to have a second child they have to pay a very expensive penalty. My family really wanted to have a boy so that they could pass on the family last name, so  when my little brother was born and my parents paid an expensive fee. As I grew up, I wanted to go to school, but my parent didn’t have money to support my education. Moreover, they thought that women didn’t need a good education to have a good life. Therefore, I had to work instead of going to school. Later on, I received a letter of admission from the college, and I will never forget how excited I was to inform my parents about this happy news. When I told them, however, they were deeply disappointed with me and said I couldn’t go to school. I cried many times when I was alone, but as a daughter I had to understand my parents’ situation. Although I still complain about what happened when my parents destroyed my dream, I am still grateful that my parents never gave me up and raised me to have a healthy body and cheerful life.

The one child policy was a successful law, it had a significant effect that was improved the quality of life for everyone in China. My family had more money to spend for articles of daily use.We also had enough food and nourishment instead of living in hunger, and we were able to share food with our neighbors. All our neighbors and my family members did not have to worry about money and food since there were fewer children to take care of. The schools were not so overcrowded, and that made education more effective. The schools also provided financial aid to students because they had extra money. Furthermore, when I got older, it was easier to find a job because there was less competition. My parents and my brother also had good job opportunities.

It has been over thirty years since the one-child policy was enforced. Today, China has been doing well economically, politically, and socially. However, there have been many bad effects from the one-child policy, too. Because having sons is very important in Chinese culture, a lot of baby girls were given up. For many years, there has been a gender imbalance in the society, and men are having trouble finding wives. People finally realized that the one-child policy and sex-selective abortion caused gender imbalance. The most significant  problem is there is less of younger generation to support the country. Therefore, China adjusted the One child policy and encourage young couples to have more babies.