One Child Policy Dbq

As the world’s population expands higher every day, people continue to search for ways to mitigate the problems of their countries reaching the maximum amount of people it can handle. When China went under new leadership in the late nineteen forties, they even tried to make their population grow quicker (BGE). They called this program the “Great Leap Forward”. The only thing this leap propelled forward to was a time of immense poverty and famine(BGE). Was China’s one child policy a future proof idea? The one child policy in China was a helpful idea for reasons that will be explained in this essay.

The one child policy was helpful to China because it slowed the growth of China’s population. Many of those who argue against the one child policy …show more content…
In the years between the Great Leap Forward and the introduction of the one child policy, cities were overcrowded, living conditions were poor, and pollution was rampant (Doc C). The one child policy helped with the overcrowded cities problem. The Guardian reported that the one child policy allowed for a 17.6% reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions and 30.8% less water pollution(Doc C). These reductions are enormous help to all of China. The one child policy allowed Chinese officials to ease into the future of pollution and environmental problems. Lastly, the one child policy allowed citizens more room and water then they may have had without the policy (Doc C).

Although the one child policy had many faults such as female infanticide (Doc E), harming the families of farmers, and promoting a social preference for males, harming some singleton children with anxiety (Doc F), it had many benefits that counteract some of the faults. I believe the reasons mentioned in my essay are self evident in displaying the positive effects of the policy. China’s policy prepared them for success later in the life of their nation. The one child policy was helpful because it slowed population growth, empowered women, and protected the