Akinyi Lester
Becoming an expert in the role of women in China past and present
China’s One-Child Policy & Forgotten Females
The one-child policy in China has heightened awareness regarding gender parity. One of the most pronounced criticisms of the policy is its impact on the demographic make-up of the population. Most notably, the introduction of the Chinese birth control policy in 1978 has caused many harmful outcomes for the female population. This paper will focus on the high sex ratios at birth in China and its ensuing effects.
In 2007, according to a recent United Nations Population Report, prenatal sex selection, abortion, female infanticide, and neglect caused at least 60 million girls to go “missing” in Asia. (Karabin 2007). While infanticide has been practiced historically in poor cities, after the one-child policy took effect, the wealthy cities started to see a rise in infanticide, something that was previously unheard of. Due to the introduction of amniocentesis, ultrasounds, and prenatal sex selection techniques, female infanticide has been less common than sex-selective abortion or feticide. The Chinese government has shown that the abortion rate is one of the highest in the world and continues to rise. In 2007, abortions were 7.6 million and increased to 9.2 million in just one year. State media outlets have also reported that abortions could be as high as 13 million, making China the country with the highest abortion rate in the world. (White, 2011).
When the two-child policy comes into force in China in 2016, those most affected are likely to be urban women. The rural areas will probably be largely unaffected since rural residential status already allowed the couples to have more than one child. But in the cities, where China’s insufficient provision of social welfare, maternity leave and childcare is most acutely felt, the most educated generation of women living in cities could start losing out on competitive careers and promotions.
And if families have one boy and one girl, it’s likely the families will invest more in the boy’s education and aspirations: China is still a patriarchal society with a strong preference for its sons. The gender equality in the urban families achieved during the one-child generation may cease to exist.
A YouTube video explaining the Chinese derogatory term "leftover women".
This mean the the women are unwarranted after the age of 25-27
Uploaded to YouTube by broadly
