Case studies

Code de la famille

• Offfering cash incentives to mothers who stayed at home to care for children.
• Subsidising holidays.
• Banning the sale of contraceptives (repealed in 1967).

Incentives offered in the policy included:

• Payment of up to £1064 to couples having their third child.
• Generous maternity grants.
• Family allowances to increase the purchasing power of three child families.
• Maternity leave on near full pay for 20 weeks for the first child to 40 weeks or more for the third child.
• 100% mortgage and preferential treatment in the allocation of three bedroom council flats.
• Full tax benefits to parents until the youngest child reaches 18.
• 30% fare reduction on all public transport for three child families.
• Pension schemes for mothers/housewives.
• Child-orientated development policies e.g. provisioning of creches, day nurseries etc.
• Depending on the family’s income, childcare costs from virtually nothing to around €500 a month for the most well off of families.
• Nursing mothers are encourage to work part-time or take a weekly day off work.

Reasons for the policy

1. Combat population explosion.
   • Imbalances between population and available resources. China has 7% of the world’s agricultural land and 23% of the world’s population.
2. To encourage economic development
   • Improving the standard of living for the population.

• Law introduced to limit the number of births applied to the Han majority (90% of the population) but not the ethnic minorities.
• Cash bonuses, improved housing and free education/medical care if couples limit themselves to one child.
• Free birth control and family planning advice.
• Age limits and certificates for marriage. Couples would have to apply for marriage certificates.
• Anyone housing more than one child lost benefits and faced financial penalties (generally 3× their salary).
• Future ageing population and high dependency ratios.
• Shortage of economically active age group.
• Ratio of 117 males for every 100 females among babies from birth through children of four years of age. Normally, 105 males are born for every 100 females.
• By 2020, an estimated 30 million men will be unable to find a wife and have a child earning them the title “Bare branches”.
• Women pregnant for a second time often coerced into having an abortion or sterilisation particularly during the early years of the policy.
• “Granny Police” were recruited in settlements to spy on people in their community who might be trying to keep a pregnancy secret.
• Opposition in rural areas, where stronger requirements for sons to work in fields, continue family name and look after parents in their old age, exist.
• Reports of gender selective abortions, hidden children, abandoned girls and, in rare cases, female infanticide.
• Amendments:
• In rural areas, if the first child is a girl then a couple can have a second child.
• If the first child is unhealthy, a couple can have a second child.
• If both parents are only children, they can have two children.

Success

• Total fertility rate has declined from 6.2 in 1950 to 1.6 in 2009. The rate of natural increase has declined to 0.5% from 2.2% in the 1970s.
• Policy has met the most success amongst urban populations. It has been less successful in rural areas where families have continued to have 2 or 3 children.
• It is estimate that without the policy there would have been an extra 400 million Chinese people born between 1970 and 2009.
• The reduction in the rate of population growth during the 1990s was accompanied by a noticeable rise in GNP.
• Greater equality for women as status is enhanced. Women are offered more opportunities for gaining greater knowledge

• A 9.0 magnitude earthquake occured on march 11th 2011 in Japan displacing the ocean by 6M.
• waves ranging between 3M and 20M were hitting the coastlines of Japan causing 15,870 deaths, 14,300 were caused by drowning. Mass burials had to tae place to avoid the spread of diseases.
• 190,000 buildings were damaged and destroyed and many people had to pay for damages due to a lack of insurance.
• 100,000 children were forced out of their homes and many of which were separated from their parents.
• $1 billion was donated to the japanese red cross to aid and an additional $120 million from the american red cross was also contributed.
• a nuclear meltdown led to an additional 2,000 people being permanently pushed out of their homes.
• 46,000 temporary homes have been built.
• 24,000 Ha of farmland was destroyed as well as 319 ports and 1.3 trillion Yen caused in damages to fishing industry.