China’s population policy Containing approximately 3 billion people, China makes up one-fifth of the world’s entire population. China’s government decided to enact a population growth policy when they determined that if their population continued to grow at the rate that it was, the country would quickly lose the resources needed to sustain every single person. With too many people, and with many more guaranteed in the near future, China would be unable to live comfortably within the boundaries of its resources. The population growth policy significantly decreases the amount of people living in the country, though there are still considered to be too many.

2. China would face numerous environmental downfalls if they did not enact the population growth policy. The more space that people take up, the less room there is available for farmland and forests, which are vital to the food production of society. Plants and animals become extinct as their homes are torn up to make room for more people. The waste and pollution that come from people would increase, which would affect the habitats of plants and animals. Urban areas would continue to expand, depleting natural resources that humans depend on, such as drinkable water and fossil fuel (Putten, 2010).

3. The greatest benefit that could come of China’s population growth policy is that there would simply be more of everything. There would be more space for people. There would be less need to cut down forests, so there would be more wildlife. Fewer plants and animals would risk becoming extinct. There would be more resources available to everyone. when there are more resources, not only do people not have to worry about surviving, but there would be a greater amount of resources to go around. Also, epidemics would be fewer, there would be less overwhelmed social services, such as health care and education, and fewer people living in poverty. China could become an even more dependent country if they lost the risk of losing their resources to overpopulation. However, a major downfall of China’s policy is that it could lead to an aging population because not enough children are being born (Greenhalgh, 2008). As such, despite the condition they currently are in, China has the potential of facing underpopulation. In the case of underpopulation, they would have too many resources, yet not enough people to pay to for them.

4. China’s policy could scientifically impact the population due to some of the medical procedures undergone to make sure that women do not exceed giving birth to the recommended amount of babies. Abortions and sterilization could gradually deplete China of people. Social impacts on the population primarily surround the lack of females, given the Chinese preference to males. By 2020, there will be approximately thirty million more men than women. This can lead to social instability and courtship-motivated emigration, which involves men moving out of China in search for a female partner (Griffiths, 2007). This may further decrease the population, but it can cause damage to the economy.

5. The United States is currently the third country with the largest population at under three and a half million people, which is significantly less than China. The area of the United States is also slightly larger than the area of China. However, the United States is facing its own issues as the quality of life declines in association with population growth. It may not be as noticeable as the situation in China, but if the United States does not do implement another plan before the population gets completely out of control, there is the chance that it will have to turn to a policy like the one China is currently using.

References

Greenhalgh, S. (2008). Just one child: Science and policy in Dengs China. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Griffiths, D. (2007, January 12). Chinese facing shortage of wives. BBC News. Retrieved November 9, 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6254763.stm

Putten, J. (2010). Moral Issues and concerns about Chinas one-child policy. New York: Verlag Publishers.