Throughout centuries, China has been battling with overpopulation, one of the biggest issues that the nation has been faced with, forcing the government to enforce the one-child policy. The desire to control the rapidly growing population dates back to the Mao Zedong era where the population number was at a ripe 602 million people (Stycos, 1989). He believed that with every mouth comes "two hands". What he did not realize at the time was that too many mouths bring hardship, poverty, and paucity of food supplies. In 1979, the Chinese government decided to enforce a policy that would help minimize the growth of their population (McDonald, 1996). The one-child policy was what they thought would solve the p

In China, when a female is born, especially first, there are many different choices the couple must make. First of all, are they willing to keep the child since it is the only one they can legally keep? If the couple decides that the child they want is a male, they must decide on what to do with this child. What happens to the child ranges from giving them up to state orphanages to murder. Due to the enforcement of the one-child policy, many female children end up in orphanages (Beijing Review, 1997). Being put into an orphanage in our society would give the child a chance to live and maybe even be adopted by another family. In China, the conditions in the orphanages are so filthy that the neglect that they would have at home if the couple decided to keep the female would be better than the maltreatment they would receive.

Although such behavior is seen in our society as cruel, China and its citizens see the policy as a benefit not only to themselves, but to everyone else. Since China is already overpopulated, this method (although not a very good method) will help to control the number of people in China, which is the main purpose of the policy. By keeping up with the policy in keeping the numbers down in China, they are keeping the economy in good condition. If the policy was ignored, the rise in population would result in the downfall of the economy and bring famine to the population (Choe, 1995). By having one child benefits the child in the sense that the parents are able to concentrate on them. They try to ensure that the child grow sup healthy with the best care. By keeping down the numbers in China, there would be more employment. For those couples who signed the one-child policy certificate, the government provides them with interest free loans, cheaper fertilizer, and retirement funds (Beijing Review

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