Stop having so many damn kids; population control, anyone?

[FunnyDuddies 6]

they don't have a rule, they simply make life hard for the people who have more than one child. and the sad part is in the early stages of this people killed off, or abandoned baby girls becasue they want a boy child. It is not a good solution.

[FunnyDuddies 6]

i must admit...i made a mistake. there is a "law" on the books in china. so there is a rule. it is not practiced as widely as it was in the beginning, and it is more to make life hard on those who have more than one child.

I will do more research and post here.

[FunnyDuddies 6]

From Wiki

In reality, having one child has been promoted as ideal and the law has been strongly enforced in urban areas, the actual implementation varies from location to location.[1] In most rural areas, families are allowed to have two children, if the first child is female, or disabled.[2] Second children are subject to birth spacing (usually 3 or 4 years). Additional children will result in large fines. The families are required to pay economic penalties, and might be denied bonuses at their workplace. Children born in oversea countries won't be counted into the policy if they don't obtain Chinese citizenship. Chinese returned from overseas can have a second child.[3]

The social fostering or maintenance fee [shehui fuyang fei] sometimes called in the West a family planning fine, is collected as a multiple of either the annual disposable income of city dwellers or the annual cash income of peasants as determined each year by the local statistics office. The fine for a child born above the birth quota that year is thus a multiple of, depending upon the locality, either urban resident disposable income or peasant cash income estimated that year by the local statistics. So a fine for a child born ten years ago is based about the income estimate for the year of the child's birth and not of the current year.[4] They also have to pay for both the children to go to school and all the family's health care. Some children who are in one-child families pay less than the children in other families. The one child policy was designed from the outset to be a one generation policy.[5] The one-child policy is now enforced at the provincial level, and enforcement varies; some provinces have relaxed the restrictions. Some provinces and cities such as Beijing permit two "only child" parents to have two children. Henan province, with a population of about 100 million, does not allow this exception.

Moreover, in accordance with PRC's affirmative action policies towards ethnic minorities, all non-Han ethnic groups are subjected to different rules and are usually allowed to have two children in urban areas, and three or four in rural areas; in addition, some couples simply pay a fine, or "social maintenance fee" to have more children.[6] Thus the overall fertility rate of mainland China is, in fact, closer to two children per family than to one child per family (1.8). The steepest drop in fertility occurred in the 1970s before one child per family was implemented in 1979. This is due to the fact that population policies and campaigns have been ongoing in China since the 1950s. During the 1970s, a campaign of 'One is good, two is OK and three is too many' was heavily promoted.

Recently, the policy has changed because the long period of sub-replacement fertility caused population aging and negative population growth in some areas,[7] and improvements in education and the economy have caused more couples to become reluctant to have children.

In April 2007 a study by the University of California Irvine, which claimed to be the first systematic study of the policy, found that it had proved "remarkably effective"[8].

It is not "against the law" to have more than one child, but you basically need to pay a fee to have more than one. The orphanages in china are filled with little girls whose families keep trying to have a boy. I think that the issue lies more in the social standing of females and the way they are percieved in china rather than the population issue. But one thing is for sure. If they keep abondoning or killing off the girls eventually the population will decline. gotta have someone to carry the babies.

[Carlene 12]

they don't have a rule, they simply make life hard for the people who have more than one child. and the sad part is in the early stages of this people killed off, or abandoned baby girls becasue they want a boy child. It is not a good solution.

It's been a law for a few years now....

China Turns One-Child Policy into Law China's so-called "one-child" policy was officially adopted as law.

The new law is known as the Law on Population and Family Planning, 2002. The previous policy gained its name from the one-child per couple norm that China’s government has encouraged since 1979, although both the old policy and the new law contain limited exceptions to the "one-child" rule. The shift marks an important change in China's approach to population control, as it brings the greater legal force of legislation into an arena that has been fraught with abuse and inconsistently applied features.

On its face, the previous "one-child" policy was intended to address the Chinese government’s concern over its growing population. But the policy had often been viewed as somewhat of an anomaly—as it simultaneously increased access to reproductive health services, particularly contraception, yet essentially impeded individual freedom by taking away a woman’s right to control her own fertility. Last week’s shift from policy to law should increase scrutiny over the efficacy of China’s law and the long term human rights implications of trying to enforce such stringent family planning measures.

"The new law has some positive, women-friendly features, but it is fraught with inconsistent and contradictory restrictions that ultimately compromise women’s freedom and equality," said Melissa Upreti, the Center for Reproductive Rights' Legal Adviser for Asia. "Chinese women are required to bear a disproportionate burden of their country’s development goals at the expense of their human rights," she continued.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is finalizing an analysis of both the beneficial and potentially dangerous aspects of this law, a briefing paper that will be released in fall 2002.

In the interim, the following are some of the positive and potentially problematic features of the new law:

Positive features of the new law:

• Requires population and family planning activities to proceed hand in hand with efforts aimed at educating women, providing jobs, improving women’s health and improving women’s status
  
• Prohibits discrimination against and the maltreatment of women who give birth to female children and women who are infertile
  
• Bans discrimination against, and maltreatment and abandonment of, female infants
  
• Calls for special labor protections, including assistance and compensation, for women during pregnancy and childbirth and when they are breast-feeding
  
• Requires not only wives but also husbands, to bear the responsibility of family planning
  
• Discourages early marriage
  
• Requires schools to provide sex education
  
• Requires the state to create conditions for educating citizens and enabling them to select safe, effective and appropriate contraceptive measures and that guarantee the safety of people who undergo surgical sterilization
  
• Articulates the right of couples to enjoy free family planning services at state outlets
  
• Provides that family planning workers may be investigated and punished for infringing upon citizens’ personal rights and property; abusing their power; and seeking or accepting bribes
  
• Requires the state to advocate new family planning methods and to conduct research

Problematic features of the new law:

• Upholds the one-child policy for married couples, allowing for a second child only if they fall within one of the few exceptions
  
• Prescribes having more than one child as a criminal act, punishable by way of a fine for those who do not fit within the limited exceptions
  
• Mandates the creation of "detailed population control" quotas in all family planning and population measures
  
• Creates ample access to family planning services for couples, but nowhere in the law are the rights of adolescents, or single people, to family planning services and information discussed and affirmed
  
• Prohibits sex determination and sex selective abortion
  
• Creates a scheme of incentives and disincentives by specifically rewarding parents who have one child, ( for example, by granting them preferential treatment in the administration of loans, poverty relief initiatives, and social welfare programs).

[FunnyDuddies 6]

lol seems carlene and i were posting at the same time.

[gadgetlady 4]

China's policy has had particularly disturbing implications, including forced abortions, forced sterilization and infanticide. NOT a pretty solution.

[green 6]

From what I have been reading in articles about China and its birth policies it appears that these policies have already resulted in a terrible imbalance of the sexes in a generation of young men and women. It seems that young women are largely missing from rural China for two reasons: many fewer have been born and of those who were these young women have made it their practice to leave the rural areas in order to seek work in the cities.

These two factors have left these villages socially destabilized. Their populations consist of elderly people and of comparatively large numbers of un- or under-employed young men, men who are in their twenties and who pass their days drinking, gambling, and fighting. These young men know that they will never find wives, nor will they have families. They are a lost generation of men and they are alienated from society as a result.

The Chinese government is aware that this imbalance is a dangerous thing and that a stable society requires that its young males have their energies best harnessed by raising their own families. Nevertheless, rural folk still want to have boy children and still view girls as being valueless even though they are already seeing a generation of lost, alienated, and lonely young men who will never have the chance to settle down and start their families.

Any culture where there are a lot of unemployed young men will likely be less stable. Young men who are left without anything meaningful to do to fill their days have a lot of energy, a lot of testosterone, and a lot of rage. This is why the crime statistics for violent/impulsive crimes are higher in areas where there is a) poverty b)unemployment and c)lots of young people. I have heard it mentioned that this is one of the reasons that much of the Middle East is such a mess: there is no work and there is a large population of young males.

It has been suggested, according to some of the articles which I have read, that China may be growing very concerned about this very thing: that the country will be flooded for some generations to come with a superabundance of emotionally unanchored males due to the sexist response to its birth control policies.

[rrod0991 0]

I am #8 of 11 an I never saw my older siblings watching the younger and I have four myself and My older children only watch the younger for 2 hours a day which is the difference between when they get home from school and I get home from work. I never had hand me downs unless I wanted something one of my older sisters was throwing away. I fight with my oldest daughter because she is always wearing her little sisters clothes . There is always time for a hug or a kind word. Each child was recognized for their accomplishments My brothers in sports my sisters in what ever it was they were good at.There were never only 11 kids in my home we all had friends over. My dad was not home much but he was out saving our country and training troops in the ARMY. I had a wonderful life full of love and understanding from my mother and older siblings. My parents were young when they had their first and old when they had their last. My siblings range in age from 43-5 and I would not send any of them back, but when my oldest brother did go back to his maker I was heart broken and I miss him every day. Yes there are a lot of us and things were not always fun but I was never alone. I agree that it is not for everyone but as long as you can take care of them with no help from the government the I am all for it. I love all of my siblings, Mercer, Melody, Mernecia, Marnie, Renee, Dorian, John David, Seraphima, Saphronia,and Kieran. I love all of my nieces and nephews, Alecia, Andrea, Buddy, Jacob, Jordan, Laura, Heather, Julia, Magdaleana, Michelle, Daniel, Anjolie, Donovan, Zoe, Amber, Justin. And my sisters grand kids Camrom and sarah. Which ones do parents give back? My sister was 12 when she had her first of 4 kids and you know she has taken car of the kids she has had on her own. I guess what I want to say is don't knock what you have not had. Don't judge , I think those who decide not to have a large family and can afford it are selfish people.

[mrspruett 0]

rrod0991- If I read your post correctly, you said your sister was 12 when she had her first child but took care of her kids on her own. How does a 12 year old take care of a baby? They are not old enough to work and support a child. Just asking.....

[Carlene 12]

I was wondering about that 12 year old, too. Was the father of her child another 12 year old?

[rrod0991 0]

the father of the baby was 16 and when he found out they were having a baby he got a job and they have never asked my parents for anything.I was 17 and my husband was 14 when our first was born. Jose got a job and took care of us, granted he worked in his parents restaurant he was still supporting his family.

[Carlene 12]

the father of the baby was 16 and when he found out they were having a baby he got a job and they have never asked my parents for anything.I was 17 and my husband was 14 when our first was born. Jose got a job and took care of us, granted he worked in his parents restaurant he was still supporting his family.

I am amazed that the 16 and 17 year olds were not prosecuted for sexual indecency with a child. Was this a very, very long time ago?

[rrod0991 0]

Alecia is now 25 almost 26. It was a long time ago.

[Carlene 12]

Alecia is now 25 almost 26. It was a long time ago.

Not so long ago....only 13 years. My children went to high school with a man who is serving time in prison for having sex with a 14 year old. He was in his 20's.

[rrod0991 0]

you seem like such a bitter person. I don't think I have read one thing where you are pleasant. Alecia is happy and well adjusted and I think my sister and her ex did a great job raising her given how young they were. Should I be prosecuted because my husband was 14 and I was 17 when I got pregnant with our son? We are now in a long term marriage and have beat the odds that were stacked against us. He was 18 and I was 21 when we married and we are now 31 and 34 and have been together for a very long time. Did I take advantage of him? When I met him he was addicted to cocaine and an alcoholic. He has been clean now for 15 years and has not had a drink in 10 years. Have I been a bad influence on him? Don't get me wrong I don't agree with having a child that young but for as young as my sister was she did a very good job. My husband tells our children to wait until they graduate from college and not to make the mistakes we made because our lives have been hard. The one thing we have had is each other and the only family I will have left after my parents are gone is the one I make for myself and my siblings so I am glad there are a lot of us so I have more support when I loose my mom or my husband or worse because those are the most important people in my life and if I was an only child how alone would I be in this world once those two people are gone. I have a huge support system because I am from a large family and I am surrounded by so much love. I love my family and cannot understand my husband sometimes because he is an only child and he doesn't understand me because I come from such a large family.