Deng Xiaoping's One-Child Policy During The Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution has changed the thought processes of many in order to handle growing populations around the world. Thomas Malthus, was an economist, who came up with a theory that populations in different countries would continue to grow and he believed that in order to provide for these growing populations technology, as well as environmental factors would need to change. According to Malthus, populations will grow substantially faster than the resources being produced. When Malthus was alive populations had risen from 600 million to about 900 million supporting his point that it would be difficult for populations to live off of resources. Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician during the more modern period, who had another approach
This policy was implemented more effectively in Urban environments. These types of communities consisted of smaller nuclear families that were willing to follow this policy. Unlike those who lived in rural areas, living in agrarian societies and disagreeing with Xiaoping’s policy. Overtime, the policy of only having one-child was more lenient in the countryside, but was a very strict policy in the cities of China. The policy itself was meant for families to only have one child, usually many families wanted a boy because during this time it was known that men do more work. “Methods of enforcement included making various contraceptive methods widely available, offering financial incentives and preferential employment opportunities for those who complied”(Pletcher, One-Child policy). During 1750, there had been agricultural practices similar to The Middle Ages. Many farmers could only use simple tools like wooden plows, hoes and scythes. With these simple tools agriculture ideas producing for higher populations of people would be difficult. China in the time period of the One-child policy had the factories and technology to produce for large populations, but populations were growing to greater numbers than they had ever expected. The number of people in China rose to about 1.4 billion (Bloomberg News). It was different during the Industrial Revolution because although Malthus’
The rural areas were specific examples of places that were willing to try this. Before the policy was even implemented, families in urban environments had smaller families, so adapting to this policy would be very straightforward for them. Whereas, families in the more rural places had families that were much larger because they would have the land to care for larger amounts of families. The Chinese government understood that the economic success they had would lead to greater populations in the smaller areas of the city. This is the main reason why the one-child policy was enforced greatly in urban areas (Man). Another conflict that resulted from this policy was the male to female ratio “Most notably, the country’s overall sex ratio became skewed toward males—roughly between 3 and 4 percent more males than females. Traditionally, male children (especially firstborn) have been preferred—particularly in rural areas—as sons inherit the family name and property and are responsible for the care of elderly parents”(Pletcher, One-child policy). The one-child policy generated many issues for families living in China. Other than just the populations containing more males than females, many families that had female offspring were required to put them into orphanages or simply abandon them. Another very harsh consequence of this policy were