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China dresses up one-child policy with softer slogans
Chinese officials have announced plans to change their approach to the country's one-child policy. Since its introduction in 1979, the authorities have mainly relied on threats and punitive measures to achieve compliance.
Slogans painted on walls by the roadside have been both terrifying and unsubtle, such as 'Kill all your family members if you don't follow the rule!' and
'We would rather scrape your womb than allow you to have a second child'.
However, a recent article in the People's Daily cites a report by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, which advocates a shift in the tone of the campaign. Persuasion, rather than intimidation, is to be the new tactic, in an effort to "avoid offending the public and stoking social tensions ." Another possible reason has to do with the negative effects the one-child policy has had on Chinese society.
The one-child policy was introduced under Deng Xiaoping as an attempt to deal with the fast increasing population. In 1949 there were an estimated 540 million people; by 1976 there were 940 million. This increase was due to both a decline in infant mortality and an increase in life expectancy. Given that people in China have traditionally had large families, particularly in the countryside, compliance with the policy has always been a problem. The policy currently only applies to about 35% of Chinese citizens, most of them urban residents. Rural parents are allowed to have two children, especially if the first is female, or disabled (an equivalence that speaks volumes about the enduring preference for male children). In recent years, the policy has been amended to allow parents who are both only children to have more than one child together.
Though the Chinese government claim the policy is a success, and has prevented 400 million births, it has received considerable criticism, mainly to do with how it has been implemented.
Though most parents only receive a fine for having a second child (or third, in rural areas) there have been local authorities who sought to make good on some of the slogans' threats. Houses have been demolished. There have been forced abortions and sterilisations. Unsurprisingly , many have sought to get round the regulations. People have tried going to different cities to have a child or bribed local officials. The preference for male children has led to sex-selective abortions; girls have been given up for adoption, passed on to distant relatives , and sometimes just abandoned.
According to Li Bin, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, for every 100 girls born in 2010, 118 boys were born. It is estimated that around 30 million to 40 million adult men will have a hard time finding wives by 2020. This gender bias is one of the issues that new slogans such as 'Caring for the girl means caring for the future of the nation' seek to address. Unfortunately, it will probably take more than a few phrases to convince many Chinese people that 'Boys and girls are all treasures' , as one slogan puts it; even under Mao there were slogans like 'Women hold up half the sky!'
Another consequence of the policy has been to skew the age demographic. About 13.26% of China's population is aged 60 or above; by 2050 the elderly are expected to account for one-third of society. A diminishing family tree puts considerable social and financial pressure on an only child to look after his or her grandparents and parents (this is known as the 4-2-1 problem).The new slogan 'Old people from the onechild families can get the allowances after they are 60 years old,' aims to reassure people about the kind of provision they may be expected to receive and provide . It does, however, raise questions about how these 'allowances' will be funded.
China dresses up one-child policy with softer slogans - Times Of India
Chinese officials have announced plans to change their approach to the country's one-child policy. Since its introduction in 1979, the authorities have mainly relied on threats and punitive measures to achieve compliance.
Slogans painted on walls by the roadside have been both terrifying and unsubtle, such as 'Kill all your family members if you don't follow the rule!' and
'We would rather scrape your womb than allow you to have a second child'.
However, a recent article in the People's Daily cites a report by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, which advocates a shift in the tone of the campaign. Persuasion, rather than intimidation, is to be the new tactic, in an effort to "avoid offending the public and stoking social tensions ." Another possible reason has to do with the negative effects the one-child policy has had on Chinese society.
The one-child policy was introduced under Deng Xiaoping as an attempt to deal with the fast increasing population. In 1949 there were an estimated 540 million people; by 1976 there were 940 million. This increase was due to both a decline in infant mortality and an increase in life expectancy. Given that people in China have traditionally had large families, particularly in the countryside, compliance with the policy has always been a problem. The policy currently only applies to about 35% of Chinese citizens, most of them urban residents. Rural parents are allowed to have two children, especially if the first is female, or disabled (an equivalence that speaks volumes about the enduring preference for male children). In recent years, the policy has been amended to allow parents who are both only children to have more than one child together.
Though the Chinese government claim the policy is a success, and has prevented 400 million births, it has received considerable criticism, mainly to do with how it has been implemented.
Though most parents only receive a fine for having a second child (or third, in rural areas) there have been local authorities who sought to make good on some of the slogans' threats. Houses have been demolished. There have been forced abortions and sterilisations. Unsurprisingly , many have sought to get round the regulations. People have tried going to different cities to have a child or bribed local officials. The preference for male children has led to sex-selective abortions; girls have been given up for adoption, passed on to distant relatives , and sometimes just abandoned.
According to Li Bin, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, for every 100 girls born in 2010, 118 boys were born. It is estimated that around 30 million to 40 million adult men will have a hard time finding wives by 2020. This gender bias is one of the issues that new slogans such as 'Caring for the girl means caring for the future of the nation' seek to address. Unfortunately, it will probably take more than a few phrases to convince many Chinese people that 'Boys and girls are all treasures' , as one slogan puts it; even under Mao there were slogans like 'Women hold up half the sky!'
Another consequence of the policy has been to skew the age demographic. About 13.26% of China's population is aged 60 or above; by 2050 the elderly are expected to account for one-third of society. A diminishing family tree puts considerable social and financial pressure on an only child to look after his or her grandparents and parents (this is known as the 4-2-1 problem).The new slogan 'Old people from the onechild families can get the allowances after they are 60 years old,' aims to reassure people about the kind of provision they may be expected to receive and provide . It does, however, raise questions about how these 'allowances' will be funded.
China dresses up one-child policy with softer slogans - Times Of India
