What is the place of children in contemporary Chinese society in the context of one-child policy, and what factors influence it ?
What is the place of children in contemporary Chinese society in the context of one-child policy, and what factors influence it ?
China since early times has been a society with family-centered values, and the old saying "Children are the future of the country" (Haizi shi zuguo de weilai) reflects the matter of children being of a big importance. In this essay, I will present some views and opinions of the mainland Chinese citizens I have encountered that are related to the matter, as well as ponder on what is the place of children in contemporary Chinese society and what factors influence it ?
First thing that comes to mind mentioning the subject of children in China is the infamous one-child policy, implemented in the very end of 1970s, intended as a temporary means of solving the overpopulation problem, which it proved to deal with comparatively successfully, bringing on, however, a host of other problems, among them gender imbalance, abuse of power of the policy implementation authorities, and current aging of the society. What are the views of people on such a limitation being imposed on them? Most of the answers I got, surprisingly, were maintained in a mildly supporting tone. One of my friend’s father, Liu Zi Ming, a middle-aged man holding a post in a technological company states: "I like the concept of large families people had in the past, and the notion that “big family is big happiness”. Perhaps I would have more children, had China not have an overpopulation problem. But we do have that problem, and can you imagine what would happen if nobody took care of that, and people would just continue to multiply as much as they wanted? We would die of hunger eventually and there would be many social problems that would destroy our society". Wen Li Na, a middle-aged lady working in a bank: “In China now the rules are not strict as before, there are couples exempt to it, and some are buying themselves out of the
China since early times has been a society with family-centered values, and the old saying "Children are the future of the country" (Haizi shi zuguo de weilai) reflects the matter of children being of a big importance. In this essay, I will present some views and opinions of the mainland Chinese citizens I have encountered that are related to the matter, as well as ponder on what is the place of children in contemporary Chinese society and what factors influence it ?
First thing that comes to mind mentioning the subject of children in China is the infamous one-child policy, implemented in the very end of 1970s, intended as a temporary means of solving the overpopulation problem, which it proved to deal with comparatively successfully, bringing on, however, a host of other problems, among them gender imbalance, abuse of power of the policy implementation authorities, and current aging of the society. What are the views of people on such a limitation being imposed on them? Most of the answers I got, surprisingly, were maintained in a mildly supporting tone. One of my friend’s father, Liu Zi Ming, a middle-aged man holding a post in a technological company states: "I like the concept of large families people had in the past, and the notion that “big family is big happiness”. Perhaps I would have more children, had China not have an overpopulation problem. But we do have that problem, and can you imagine what would happen if nobody took care of that, and people would just continue to multiply as much as they wanted? We would die of hunger eventually and there would be many social problems that would destroy our society". Wen Li Na, a middle-aged lady working in a bank: “In China now the rules are not strict as before, there are couples exempt to it, and some are buying themselves out of the