The One Child Policy

201521623 Yong Hwan Kim

China has been one of the most populated country in the world throughout the history
of mankind has known. However, China has blamed its social problems to the
massive population and tried to limit its citizens by enforcing a one child policy. This
policy regulates the number of offspring a couple can have, thus resulting problems
in many different fields.
To begin with, the one child policy caused considerable changes in the sex
ratio of its country resulting side effects. Sex ratio at birth or SRB in short is defined
as the number of boy babies for every 100 pregnancies, with an acceptable amount
of 103 to 107 for every 100 girl babies (Scutti 2014). However, in the case of
China, after the policy the numbers unevenly rose to a dangerous degree due to the
favoritism to boy babies. In China the gender ratio started[ing] from a rather healthy
106 in 1979, rising to 111 in 1990, and peaking at 121 in 2005. In some rural
areas, the SRB was thought to have been as high as 130 (Scutti 2014). The overabundance of boy babies leaves out a high percentage, up to 30 percent, of eligible
bachelors with no hopes of getting married. Among these young men eager to get
married may commit women kidnapping, which was a custom in some reigns in China
(Lee 2015).
Secondly, the policy has brought about problems regarding human rights.
The regulation imposes an enormous fine to the parents who have more children than

the regulation accepts. For parents who do not have the financial capability to pay off
the penalty, their options are very limited. Either they get an abortion, sell their child
to a broker or leave the child out of any kind legal system. Approximately 336 million
fetus were not given the chance to grow in its mothers womb and scream out their
first cry due to the one child policy (Moore 2013). The shocking part is the latter two
options for the parents. As the fines are commonly several times an annual income
for low and middle class workers (Gulckman 2013), the yet to be parents often sell
the child to brokers who deals human trafficking. The brokers would pay the fine
instead and extra in return for the childs custody. Female babies would be raised to
be sold again to be engaged in forced marriage due to the gender imbalance, and the
male babies are turned into labor workers after taken away from their parents
(Fetterly 2014). The only way to keep the child without paying the penalty is by
concealing the child from all legal systems. These children are named black children
or heihaizi in Chinese, are unregistered second or third child not are not enlisted by
the government. They technically are not Chinese citizens thus owning no rights as a
Chinese, excluded from any benefits given by the government. As the black children
are restrained formal education, their level of education was remarkably low due to
their social status (Ahn 93).
Moreover, the one child policy has changed the traditional family model thus
causing psychological problems to the only child in the family. To children their
siblings are the primary source to learn social skills. However for the young children
of china, they are rejected of any social peer review from their siblings. Thus, this
insufficiency of interactions with siblings resulted in less social skills and lower self-

respect. Based on peer ratings from children in their classrooms, only children were
found to be low in peer prestige, cooperation with peers, and behavior control and
high in egocentrism and frustration proneness(Yang 1302). Despite the efforts of the
one child parent makes to expand the childs social network and enhance
interactions with peers, a great deal of contact with peers are not enough to offset
the effects of being an only child (Chronicle Of Higher Education 2013). As for the
only child in the family, the burden builds as the child grows into adulthood and
reaches the age when he has to financially provide for his elders in the family. This is
called the Four-two-one problem for the four grandparents, two from both side of the
family: mothers side and fathers side and two for the both parents of the only child
to support. At such a young age, it is practically unbearable to support four family
members, putting the only child in a stressful position.
In a nutshell, the Chinese one child policys outcomes has impacted its
citizens with many inhumane outcomes that followed up and left the country with
incurable scars. The outcomes have changed the lives of many Chinese citizens in
various ranges. In a personal level to a more sophisticated level, the lives of millions
of only children has to endure what none others has been though, a path which is
forced by the government, to walk alone. Thus, the policy must be ban to protect and
endure its citizens their rights.

Works Cited.
[Online Newspaper]
Scutti, Susan. "One-Child Policy Is One Big Problem For China." Newsweek Global 162.4 (2014): 131137. Business Source Premier. Web. 18 May 2016.
Gluckman, Ron (2013-12-19). "The Ghosts of China's One-Child Policy". Vocativ. Retrieved 18 June
2016.
Moore, Malcom. "336 Million Abortions under China's One-child Policy." The Telegraph (2013): n. pag.
The Telegraph. 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 May 2016.

Fetterly, Madeline. "Sex Trafficking and China's One Child Policy." The Diplomat. N.p., 6 Nov. 2014.
Web. 22 May 2016. <http://thediplomat.com/2014/11/sex-trafficking-and-chinas-one-child-policy/>.
Lee, Jason. "5 Things to Know about China's 1-child Policy." 5 Things to Know about China's 1-child
Policy (2015): n. pag. Web. 2016 May 22. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/5-things-to-know-aboutchina-s-1-child-policy-1.3294335>.
Chronicle Of Higher Education (2013)"One-Child Policy Raises Multiple Issues."P.18. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 18 May 2016.

[Article]
Ahn, Nam-Kee. "Effects of the One-Child Policy on the Second and the Third Birth in Three Provinces
in." Korea Journal of Population Studies (1992): 90-103. The Population Association of Korea. Web.
18 May 2016.

Yang, Bin, and Others And. "Only Children And Children With Siblings In The People's Republic Of
China: Levels Of Fear, Anxiety, And Depression." Child Development 66.5 (1995): 1301-11. ERIC.
Web. 18 May 2016