Topic: Population Policies Case Studies: India & China

1. Topic: Population PoliciesCase Studies: India & China Aim: In what ways can a country attempt to control its population? Do Now: For what reasons might a country either encourage or discourage its citizens from having children?

2. Rough translation - “Fewer births mean better births and lifelong happiness”

3. “…to try to ensure that the results are the ones we really intend. It’s the unintended results that can often be the worst, and sometimes bedevil us.” ---Stephen Spielberg, speaking of Israel’s covert response to the Munich Massacre

4. Population Policies: • Expansive Policies or Pro-Natalist policies encourage large families e.g. Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Soviet Union • Eugenic Population Policy-devoted to improving the human race through heredity by controlling who has children with who

5. Order of Maternal Glory 1st Class 9 children 500,000 awarded

6. Motherhood Medal 2nd Class 5 children 8,000,000 awarded

7. Population Policies: • Restrictive or Anti-Natalistpolicies discourage births. • Policies vary (e.g. - despite Vatican policies, most Catholic Italians practice birth control: Philippines (only Asian Catholic country) government restricts birth control.

8. Thinking historically, for what reasons do you think China currently has the largest population of any country on Earth?

9. Impact of Mao Zedong in China: • In the 1950s and 1960s Mao instructed the nation to have as many children as possible in order to bury the United States in a “human wave.” • Sent the birth rate soaring to 5.8 children per couple, a level unsustainable for China's natural resources. By 1962 a massive famine had caused some 30 million deaths.

10. China’s “One Child Policy” • Introduced in 1979 by Deng Xiaoping after Mao’s death • Its aim was to reduce the rate of population growth • Economic and social rewards for those who adhere to it, penalties for those who do not China’s aggressive policy enforcement of the One couple, one child” is displayed on this billboard.

11. Exceptions: • Ethnic minorities are formally excluded from the policy (Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uighur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5%) • If both parents are only children themselves, then they are allowed to have more than one child provided the children are spaced more than 4 years • Families who have children with mental or physical disabilities are sometimes allowed to have another child

12. Discussion Questions: • In what ways can China’s policy create a global issue? • In what ways do cultural preferences impact the population in China? • Describe some of the consequences (both intended and not) of China’s One Child Policy on their population structure. • In what ways could any shift in population structure impact Chinese society?

13. http://www.china-europe-usa.com/level_4_data/hum/011_7a.htm

14. 119+ boys for every 100 girls 30 million unmarried men by 2020 45% of Chinese women said they don’t intend to marry 3/10 families have grandparents living with them Biggest demographic revolution in history-Number of Elderly is rising-by 2050 about 30% of the population will be over 60-no pensions or social security. China’s only children will have to support two parents and perhaps 4 grandchildren

15. 60 minutes: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-xwd_affr4 • As we watch the following 3 minute clip, try to identify some of the unintended consequences of China’s population policies

16. Gender imbalance: Roughly 119 males to every 100 females, as high as 130 to 100 in some areas. More than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses in 2020, with sex-specific abortions a major factor. • High levels of prostitution, STD’s, and general social instability in certain regions

17. Effects on Women 1.) Militia force if women do not show up on time for abortion/sterilization 2.) High suicide rates 3.) Abuse/murder if women is suspected to carry a girl 4.)Cultural belief: women thought to determine sex of the baby “Sun Zhonghua, a 34 year old mother of two, died, apparently after she was beaten for refusing to be sterilized. Officials say Sun jumped from the 4th floor of a birth control administration building after being dragged from her home to be forcibly sterilized.” ---Associated Press, 2001

18. First 6 years 70 million abortions • 1980s about 20 million sterilizations a year-3X as many women as men. • Communist party members were given cash and promotions for enforcing the laws. • 1984 One Child Policy was relaxed in the countryside - strictly enforced in urban areas

19. Many rural Chinese defied rule, hid pregnant women, failed to register births, prevented inspectors from visiting rural villages. • Government took drastic action: • Violators were fined • Land was confiscated • Lost all benefits • Pregnant women were arrested & forced to have abortions Harbin Hospital nurse checks newborns. In some areas a second or third child resulted in 10% reduction in income until child reaches 14 yrs old.

20. China’s “Little Emperors”:

21. Anti-Natalist Policies: India

22. India's population, 1901 to 2000

24. Infertility clinics like this one in New Delhi reflect India's shift away from coerced birth control to individual choices. While providing the opportunity for birth control to those who want it, some individuals such as those served by this clinic may be more concerned with the opposite problem -- not being able to have any children.

25. Indian emigrants – diaspora around the world Commonwealth country laborers Remittances and development Destinations today: U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Australia Implications of population growth in India Supplies of freshwater are stretched to the limit Soil exhaustion and erosion Cultivating low-lying, hurricane-prone islands Overgrazing Protein consumption is 20% below nutritional needs Unable to provide social services and education Makeshift housing in squatter settlements Nonetheless, remarkable economic growth, large middle class, and leadership in the information economy

26. Discussion • Does a government (any government) have the right to dictate citizens reproductive behavior? • In what ways is China’s One Child Policy necessary? Did China have other options for the control of their population? • Bearing in mind your answers to the above question, make an argument as to whether the policy should or should not exist.