I "knew" about the One Child Policy established by the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, to limit communist China's population growth. It had been designed to be a "temporary" measure...it is still in place today in 2008; it was obvious, the children were no where to be seen. Then I realized that we did not see them because school was still in session! So, when 4:30-5:00pm arrived, looking from my bus's window, I could observe few school age children walking in groups of 3 or 4 carrying their schoolbags, stopping for ice cream before going home. They looked happy and were very well dressed. I did not expect to see many kids but that was a shock to me; maybe because I have 3 of my own, and I am use to have their friends over; I am also amongst them ( I will concede a little older!) at the University. Whatever the reason, it felt strange to me.
However, along the way, I learned that the "One child policy" was not mandated for every Chinese couple. There were important differences and not everyone was equal. This policy is mainly restricted to ethnic Han Chinese living in urban areas. Citizens living in rural areas and minorities living in the country are not subject to the law.The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group in China with 91.5% of the population, which is about 2.1 Billion people! China recognizes 55 other ethnic groups like the Zhuang (16.1 million), the Manchu (10.6 million), the Hui (9.8 million) and so on. These minority do not have to comply with the 1979 Policy.
Today, there is a new generation of young people which are in their child- bearing age, 29 years-old and younger. As a result, a special provision has been made, allowing for instance some couples to have more than one child. Couples who are themselves without siblings can have 2 children without being penalized, however there must be a five year gap between the children.
Couples who are college educated are also permitted to have 2 children, because it is economically feasible according to the Policy. However, I believe that in the near future, this Policy will be again changed or eliminated because of the pressure of global economics, human rights and so on. Another important reason is also the fact that the Chinese population is aging and problems in the long run will arise.
Numbers taken from The England Journal of Medicine, Sept.15, 2005
Explanations about policy given by Dr. Chengyan YuePicture from Jason Skinner, May 2008
