Case Study - China - One Child Policy

This is a revision card of the case study "China's one child policy"

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Facts and Figures

  • The population of China is 1.3 billion.
  • Birth rate = 37 per 1000 before and 18 per 1000 after.
  • Death rate = 10 per 1000.
  • Birth to death ratio - 5:3.
  • GDP per person = $250 per year.
  • 400 million births were prevented from the one child policy.
  • The fertility rate has dropped from 2.9 in 1979 to around 1.8 in 2009.
  • In 1949 the population was only 540 million so families were encouraged to have more children to help produce more food and build a strong army.
  • By 1970 the population had increased to 830 million but China's resources couldn't cope - there was a disastrous famine from 1958-1961 and lots of people had no access to things like water and electricity.
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One child policy

  • In 1976 the government used the slogan "later, longer, fewer" which means later marriages, longer gaps between children and fewer children. The policy worked well as the fertility rate feel sharply from 5.7 in 1970 to 2.9 in 1979. This policy helped to make China more sustainable by resoucres weren't used up as quickly and less waste was produced, but the population was still growing so they came up with this...
  • In 1979 the Chinese government set up a new law which stated that no couple could have no more than one child per family to try and decrease the massive population in China.
  • In some rural areas, couples are allowed to have a second child if the first is a girl or has a physical disability. If one of the parents has a disability or if both parents are only children, then couples are allowed to have a second child.
  • By the end of the 70's, use of contraception had increased and the fertility rate had halved.
  • To make sure that the one child policy works they gave rewards and punishments. The rewards were free education, a guaranteed job and priory housing. The pounishments were would be a fine of up to 15% of the families income and the benefits would be taken away.
  • The one child policy has been successful and has prevented 400 million births. The population growth rate was 3% but has now decreased to 0.7%.
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