Conclusion
While the low fertility rate, population growth rate, and figures denoting economic development are numerically promising, it is not clear whether the birth planning policy will actually eliminate the economic ills diagnosed by the state. Let us revisit very briefly the two such ills I have touched upon in this essay: urban unemployment and the aging population. Will these two burdens be lifted from the country's shoulders as a result of the birth planning policy combined with positive economic growth? Possibly yes, but only to a certain extent. It is implausible that unemployment and discontent senior citizens would completely disappear. In an ideal world, China's population would stay perfectly still, the government would know exactly who needs how much of a certain vital need, and each individual who cannot provide for themselves would be provided for. However, China is such a vast country with such a vast and varied populace that it is no easy logistical task for the central government alone to supply socialized medicine efficiently and effectively. Therefore I think it is an extremely positive thing for the Chinese government to realize its limits in providing social security and to prescribe back-up plans for welfare recipients.The history of the birth planning policy is marked by the anguish of mothers who were coerced into doing things against their will and the blood of millions of aborted fetuses and dead infants. We must never forget that history and the price in human sacrifice and suffering that has made today's favorable fertility rates and policy reforms possible. The reforms are such that the government no longer holds it in its best interest to push coercive, irrational policies against its own citizens, whom the government has a self-proclaimed duty to protect and serve. The birth planning policy, now that it is written into law, is more legitimate and transparent, thus enabling better administration and better protection of citizens' fundamental rights. With its public education programs about health and population growth, people-especially women-are now better informed and based on this improved knowledge can make sensible family plans in accordance with society's interest. A revised and liberalized birth planning policy: China is making brave steps to achieve sustainable growth, even though whether it can achieve that goal fully can only be told in time.
References
Tien, H. Yuan et al., China's Demographic Dilemmas, Population Reference Bureau, Inc, June 1992Winckler, Edwin A., Chinese Reproductive Policy at the Turn of the Millennium: Dynamic Stability, Population and Development Review, September 2002
Winckler, Edwin A., translator. People's Republic of China Law on Population and Birth Planning Smil, Vaclav, China's Environmental Crisis, M. E. Sharpe, 1993
White, Tyrene, The Origins of China's Birth Planning Policy, Harvard University Press, 1994
Tang, Wenfang, and Parish, William L., Chinese Urban Life Under Reform, Cambridge University Press, 2000
This was an entry for The 2004 Moffatt Prize in Economic Writing. See the contest rules for more information.
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