The population growth and economic development in developing countries. Social and Economic Effects of China’s One-Child Policy (OCP).

The Social and Economic Effects of China’s One-Child Policy (OCP)
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Social and Economic Effects of China’s One-Child Policy (OCP)
Introduction
Modern family planning methods were mainly conceived in the 20th century owing to the concern about the ever-increasing global population. Their effects, both positive and negative, are evident across the world. Although there were large scale family planning programs in more than 100 countries in the 1990s, China’s One-Child Policy (OCP) is among the world’s greatest experiment on human social organization. The OCP was initiated in 1979 to alleviate social, economic, and environmental challenges (Zhang, 2017). It was first conceived as a birth control program but later became law, compulsory to all women within the child-bearing age bracket. Unlike other family planning programs, the OCP issued a mandatory single-birth quota to all couples. But its implementation has been different for diverse ethnic groups and regions over time. China’s birth control program, OCP, received both praise and criticism throughout its period of execution.
Generally, the OCP has been blamed by the international community accusing it of denying Chinese women their freedom of choice and violating their reproductive rights via involuntarily abortions, sterilizations, and sexual discrimination against females. China witnessed an economic boom over the last few decades yet its fertility was way below the replacement level by the turn of the 21st century. The country could no longer defend its one-child policy within such a demographic and economic context, leading to its termination in 2015. All Chinese couples are currently allowed to have two children, owing to the two-children policy which took effect in January 2016. The essay explores the social and economic impacts of the one-child policy in China and family dynamics as well as the significance of the two-children policy in alleviating the situation.
Overview of The One-Child Policy (OCP)
The OCP was formally initiated in 1979 as a curbing mechanism to social, economic, and environmental problems. At the time, the country experienced a high rate of unemployment and scarcity of natural resources, a phenomenon highly attributed to a sharp population expansion (Rosenzweig & Zhang, 2009). In February 1982, the central government allowed regional authorities to exercise their power to issue specific and locally adjusted regulations that suit diverse demographic and socioeconomic conditions across the country. In 1984, birth control regulations were imposed by the central government. The regulations were to be reviewed and approved by the provincial Standing Committee of the People's Congress and provincial-level authorities but following local conditions (Zhang, 2017). Therefore, the OCP became compulsory and under the local and provincial authorities rather than voluntary and under the central government as it was in other parts of the world.
OCP prohibited couples from having more than a child. However, its impartial implementation created several exemptions. The policy's birth quota depended on the residence and ethnicity of the couple. Urban and rural residents had diffe...