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The one-child policy is started by China. How and why China introduced this policy? How it is good for the economy of the country? Why it is important? Is China’s one-child policy have any negative impact on the economy?

China’s one-child policy was part of the birth planning program introduced to control the population of the country. Where it is actually the setting of a limit of one child that the government could allow parents to have.

It is meant to limit parents from having more than one kid.

Why china introduced the one-child policy?

The rapid increase in the population during the period of the 1950s. At that time the government encouraged families to have as many children as possible. Mao Zedong (who ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1949-1976) believed that population growth will empower the country. And preventing the implementation of family planning programs in the earlier development of China.
Moreover, the population was rising under Mao Zedong. The population increased from around 540 million in 1949 to 940 million in 1976. Moreover, the population was rising.

birth rate after one-child policy
Birth rate and Death rate during the great leap forward and the one-child policy

Infant mortality falls from 227 per thousand births in 1949 to 53 per thousand in 1981, and life expectancy suddenly increased from around 35 years in 1948 to 66 years in 1976 under the leadership of Mao.

Advantages

There are some advantages to the one-child policy. Which helped to develop the country’s economic status. The following are the advantages:-

  • Population control:- Most common advantage of the One-child policy is control of the population. Where there will be a decrease in the birth rate.
  • Increase in Employment Opportunities:- Due to the decrease in birth rate, there will be increased employment opportunities in the future. Children who are growing during this period will be able to find jobs easily in the future.
  • Incentives:-People who follow the One-child policy, the Chinaines government is providing incentives and additional benefits.

Disadvantages

As there are some ups, there are also some downs to the one-child policy. These downs can affect on the country in every aspect socially and economically. As follows:-

  • Abortions:- Most parents prefer to have a boy than a girl as a child. So there was been an increased rate of abortions in China because of not to have a girl child. And to also escape from the penalties of bearing a second child.
  • Imbalance in sex ratio at birth:- Because of the preference of boys more than girls by parents. Which led to more imbalance between the male and female ratio. This can affect both socially and economically in China.
  • Decreasing in growth rate:-Due a sudden decrease in the birth rate, there will be less working labor which might affect the Country’s GDP(Gross Domestic Product) or economic growth in the future.
  • Imbalance in demand and supply of labor:- In the future, there will increase in the demand for labor. But due to the one-child policy, there will be a decrease in the supply of labor, which can cause an imbalance in the demand and supply of labor.

End of China’s one-child policy

In October 2015, China’s Government announced plans to abolish the one-child policy. The law was started on 1st January 2016. Now a family can have two children. The Decision was taken by the communist party of China in an address to the balance of male and female sex ratio and to maintain the youth percentage in the population.

Conclusion

Every country needs to plan for future population control. Whereas China’s one-child policy is more suitable for the short term. There are advantages for the short term and disadvantages for the future and long term. Where there should be a limit of 2 children per family for better population control which is more suitable for overpopulated countries.

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