The One-Child Family Policy in China

Recent census figures place the population of China at more than one billion. Although some birth control clinics had been established in China in the 1950's and both abortion and sterilization were legalized it was not until the mid-1960's that the government launched serious efforts to encourage family limitation.

To do this they opened additional clinics and improved contraceptive techniques. Expansion of the health care system throughout the vast countryside, helped by 'barefoot doctors' who were individuals that were trained to provide basic health care including the distribution of contraceptives, made birth control easily accessible to rural peasants as well as to those who dwelled in the cities.

Late marriage was promoted as a means of reducing births and all birth control services were provided free of charge and workers requiring time off for abortions, sterilizations or IUD insertions were given paid leave. During this time couples were urged to have no more than 2 children with a 3-5 year interval between births. This appeared to have been fairly successful especially in urban areas where having more than 2 children was viewed by one's peers as a form of anti-social behavior.

By the late 1970's it became evident that the remarkable drop in Chinese birth rates was still not enough to achieve stabilization. In 1978 the Chinese leadership decided to make an unprecedented attempt to reduce total population size by urging that henceforth each Chinese couple should produce no more than 1 child. Because surveys showed that less than 20% of married couples would voluntarily restrict their number of children the government established a system of rewards and penalties. Couples were urged to sign 'Only Child Glory Certificate' which entitled them to receive free medical care and school tuition for their child, monthly cash bonuses or in rural areas work point qualifying them for extra food and supplies. Certificate holders received preferential treatment in obtaining housing, extra old age pensions in urban areas or a guaranteed standard of living for rural residents. When the only child becomes an adult he was assured of preferential treatment in securing a job. But, if parents who signed this contract violated it terms by having a second child all their previous benefits had to be returned. And the birth of a third child would result in a 10% reduction of parents wages, a charge for the extra childs rations and restriction of access to housing designed for 2-child families.

The social implications of such a policy were great. This was a country where the extended family has been the basic unity of society and the one child policy meant that future Chinese generations would have no-one to call sister, brother, aunt or uncle. But the marked social phenomenon was the marked increase in the number of female infanticides. This was a land where son preference is traditional and many couples decided that if they were to have one child then a boy was what they would have. The result of this according to many reports was that mothers giving birth at home would have a large bucket of water at their side and if the newborn infant was a girl she was promptly drowned which would give the parents another chance to have a son.