Although China enacted the one-child policy in order to control the overwhelming population growth rate, it has backfired in terms of gender imbalance and other similar issues. The belief that a male child is more valuable has been reinforced since B.C. ages, because only males can carry on the family name while females lose their last names when married off. The one-child policy caused many households to become one-minded on only producing male heirs, hence creating a gender imbalance in China, especially rural areas. The question today due to the national situation is still hotly debated: should the policy be upheld in order to continue to slow down population growth, or is it more important to begin reversing the gender imbalance?
Another interesting point that the video presents is how parents are forbidden from finding out the gender of their child through ultrasound tests. Even though they can still figure it out anyways through other means, the steps that the government has taken to restore the gender balance is raising more questions. Is it worth encouraging immoral behaviors, such as lying, in order to balance things out once more? In fact, one may go so far as to ask why the government does not find other means to handle the population and gender balance situations instead of establishing strict controlling measures over the largest national population in the world.
Here's an interesting proposal regarding how China might relax the one-child policy without missing its population targets, in a way that might help end the selective abortion of females:
ReplyDeletehttp://climatepirate.com/cap-and-trade-for-chinese-babies-also-chickens/