The Gender Dimension of the One-Child Policy and its Influence on China’s Development

Abstract

China’s one-child policy is an essential subject in the quest to understand the
contemporary Chinese society, its future social development perspectives, but
also in order to determine how population control policies impact both men
and women. After providing a short overview of the policy and discussing its
consequences amongst men and women, I focus on the economic future of
China with respect to the abovementioned policy and also try to answer the
question on the stringency of such a harsh initiative. I argue that this policy
has had some rational incentives at its core but impacted women in a harsh
and inhumane way and might severely cripple China’s future development
goals.