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Emmalee Gabriele
Mrs. Barnes
English 112
25 March 2015
Is One Child Enough?
The one child policy in China is an on going problem that must be faced in order to make
China a greater society economically. The population in China has never been more abandoned
than it is as of today. The policy is not only hurting the population in China, but hurting families
and many young children as well. The one child policy is affecting thousands of citizens in China
and must be prevented before this problem becomes more serious in the future.
Chinas population is high at risk. It is the worlds most populous nation with over a
billion citizens (China to miss target). Although in most cases they are only limited to one
child, their population is still growing everyday. The government feels as if they are helping
Chinese citizens and controlling their population, but they are still becoming overpopulated.
There are many more men than women in China. If this problem is not prevented soon, there will
be a scarce amount of girls and eventually there would be an abundance of men. Most of Chinas
population consists of elderly people. The elderly rely on the government for money. Soon, the
government will run out of money to pay for pensions, or health-care costs if nothing is done
(One is enough). Even the countrys working population has dropped by a couple million
dollars because of all the elders that can no longer work. The elders expect their kids to take care
of them while they have their own children to take care of. Also, as single children, they have no
siblings to lighten the load for them (One-child proclivity). Experts say even a total

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abandonment of the policy tomorrow would do nothing to relieve this problem for decades (One
is enough).
Many of the females in China get abortions, abandoned, adopted, killed, or even lose
their jobs. Most women receive abortions because they can not afford the fee for having another
child or they have broken the law by having two children when they are not allowed by the
government. Women have ambitions to advance their career, but are having to give up their job
to take care of their children (One is enough). China doesnt want as many girls because they
can reproduce. As of men, they can carry on their family name and work to make money for their
family. Therefore, many girls get abandoned with no food or water because the government does
not take care of them. Sometimes girls even get killed if there are too many at the adoption
center. The women in China do not get treated like they should and get an unfair disadvantage
because of their opportunity to reproduce. There can be a time in the future where there will be
barely any women left in China to have children and become overpopulated by males.
The one child policy in China can vary in many different ways with families. Some
families can be limited to one child. While others, if they can afford it, may have up to two
children. You may have a second child if you pay a fine. Most families cannot afford the fine.
Couples who disobey the law can be fined and even lose their job (China to miss). If someone
is caught being pregnant with a second child and can not pay the certain amount of money, they
must have an abortion right away. The law is said to be changed soon. The government says, If
at least one of the two parents is a single child, the couple may have two children (One-child
proclivity). Although if someone ends up having a second child that family will no longer be
eligible for their countries allowances for one-child families (Experts stress consistency).
Many people have been trying to stop the law, but the one-child policy has been around for

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years. ...by ruthlessly implementing the governments policy against unauthorized births (The
horrors of Chinas).
In conclusion, the one-child policy is a big problem that they are trying to face as of
today in China. It is very hard to control such a big population but if they do not solve the
problem soon, it will get out of hand. With the governments help, Chinas citizens can soon be
led into having normal lives and having as many children as they wish.

Works Cited
"China to miss target for 2 million babies as rising health, education costs spook parents." Times
of India 14 Jan. 2015. Global Issues in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Denyer, Simon. "'One is enough': Chinese families lukewarm over easing of one-child policy."

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Washington Post 24 Jan. 2015. Global Issues in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Lovell, Julia. "The horrors of China's one-child policy." International New York Times 7 Feb.
2015. Global Issues in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
"One-child proclivity; Family planning." The Economist 19 July 2014: 40(US). Global Issues in
Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.