India giving couples cash to postpone having babies

[Guynextdoor]

I was just checking to see the response. I believe that girls are more precious than boys. I am against abortion so aborting female fetuses is abhorrent to my principles. Indians in Canada have told me that parents must have the right to choose the gender of the child. Many Sikh families have only one son. The female infanticide in last two decades will cause shortage of women in Punjab and Haryana states of India and may raise the value of female babies. In Pakistan, many tribes make marriage unions where one girl from each clan is married to groom of the other clan. So your son cannot be married if you do not have daughter to marry their family. This tradition is called "Atta Batta".

The strange thing is that Indian communities settled (almost specifically) in Canada are far more backward than Indians even in several rural areas. You look at honor deaths or dowry in rural areas & you can attribute them to poverty or lack of development. But I read about the same level of highly aggressive defence of backward traditions-the male child, honor killings etc. among the candian indian diaspora. My theory is that unlike Indians elsewhere who migrated because they were professionals (doctors, IT workers etc.), those who went to canada tended to be from rural india and a strange mixture of new money and old customs created quite a mess.

 

[Nomenclature]

Then why not revoke it ?

Edit: Surely it was unavoidable?

I don't know why the leadership is not revoking it. I remember listening to a record of an ANU panel discussion on China, and one expert expressed his utmost puzzlement why the Chinese government is not scraping the policy since the demographic forecast is one of the most reliable branch of social sciences and all forecasts are saying China is on its way to a demographic disaster.

Maybe it has something to do with lobbying efforts from the family planning departments in various levels of Chinese government. Those people make their living from murdering Chinese babies and you can expect them doing best they can to keep their jobs.

 

[linkinpark]

In US and some other European countries it is allowed to choose the sex of the baby (by artificial insemination) for gender equality purpose within the family. For example, if a family has 2 boys already then the parents can choose to have a girl as the next baby using certain medical procedures. You cannot choose gender for the first baby though.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

Hands of to Indian gov initiative. I have seen academic documentaries and you guys are doing pretty well!

 

[CardSharp]

I don't know why the leadership is not revoking it. I remember listening to a record of an ANU panel discussion on China, and one expert expressed his utmost puzzlement why the Chinese government is not scraping the policy since the demographic forecast is one of the most reliable branch of social sciences and all forecasts are saying China is on its way to a demographic disaster.

Maybe it has something to do with lobbying efforts from the family planning departments in various levels of Chinese government. Those people make their living from murdering Chinese babies and you can expect them doing best they can to keep their jobs.

Hey I listen to those ANU lecture things too. Some of them are quite good.

You're exaggerating a bit surely. China is still very populated for its size compared to first world countries and the one child policy is now easily by passed by paying a penalty fee right?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I don't know why the leadership is not revoking it. I remember listening to a record of an ANU panel discussion on China, and one expert expressed his utmost puzzlement why the Chinese government is not scraping the policy since the demographic forecast is one of the most reliable branch of social sciences and all forecasts are saying China is on its way to a demographic disaster.

I think you're being a bit too pessimistic.

There is plenty of time to "modify" the one-child system.

These demographic changes you're talking about take decades before they become a serious problem. There is plenty of time left, and I'm sure the Chinese government is thinking about it carefully.

 

[CardSharp]

A govt that forces such a policy is...well..slaughtered. I mean you won't even find residual traces of the government. I guess there's no alternative but to contantly persevere and slowly keep winning more and more people to your side.

Life is not sacred, quality of life is. Spare me your sanctimony.

 

[no_name]

As peoples income grows more and more can afford a second child even if it means paying fines. The leadership concentrates on improving living standards.

 

[CardSharp]

I think you're being a bit too pessimistic.

There is plenty of time to "modify" the one-child system.

These demographic changes you're talking about take decades before they become a serious problem. There is plenty of time left, and I'm sure the Chinese government is thinking about it carefully.

Am I correct in thinking that a second child is overlooked for a penalty fee?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Am I correct in thinking that a second child is overlooked for a penalty fee?

That's right, wealthy families often pay a fee (or a fine) to have more than one child.

It depends on the area though. Minorities are exempt from the one-child policy, and it has never been enforced in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong in fact has a very low rate of population growth, so we need more immigrants from the mainland to keep our population from shrinking. (I believe Singapore has the same problem).

 

[below_freezing]

Yes but the fines can be crippling to a rural family, in best of case when the local government follows the law. in some places there are forced abortions in early 90's though not in my province, but in north.

My girlfriend is one of a family of FIVE and they were fined into poverty and unable to afford even a television until a few years ago when her brothers and sisters started working. her parents are still farming, though in the cash crop business doing high end produce for urban markets.

india should not follow our policy, fines in india would literally result in starvation and would be inhumane. instead, paying people to not have children is much better.

 

[somebozo]

India needs a cultural revolution if it want to curb its problem of excess population. Millions of Indians are dirt poor who see children as their oldage insurance policy. The more they have the more secure their future will be.

 

[Nahraf]

How is it going to work ? Are they going pay the newly married couples every anniversary for not having children. May be after collecting for five year they might get on a binge and have five kids in next five years. Will the government ask for refund ?

 

[TorontoNoctis]

I don't know why the leadership is not revoking it. I remember listening to a record of an ANU panel discussion on China, and one expert expressed his utmost puzzlement why the Chinese government is not scraping the policy since the demographic forecast is one of the most reliable branch of social sciences and all forecasts are saying China is on its way to a demographic disaster.

Maybe it has something to do with lobbying efforts from the family planning departments in various levels of Chinese government. Those people make their living from murdering Chinese babies and you can expect them doing best they can to keep their jobs.

To be frank aging demographics only matter in a democracy where the retirees can vote out the government and destroy the economy by demanding huge pensions.

China won't collapse even if it's late with reversing one-child because they can simply let the old people die with minimal benefits. Being a totalitarian government they can cut benefits to minimal any time they want. It doesn't take a lot to keep a person alive. And old people aren't likely to revolt or stage a Tiananmen. This is probably their plan, let the old people die off, and if I was leader of China I would seriously consider it. It would be a permanent reduction in population.

 

[kallu_be]

Some states in India, especially southern states have fertility rate better than US and many European countries. Govt should educate Hindi belt(Most NI states) regarding their obsession for having male child and develop those areas so that internal mass migration will not happen.