Effects of One Child Policy in Imperial China.

In 1979 the ‘One Child Policy’ was enforced, as concerns had come to the attention of the booming population growth.  (Miller, 2008) The One Child Policy refers to each family is only permitted to have one child. However the long-established custom of men are more valuable than women, lead to an increase in abortions if through ultrasounds, the foetus showed evidence of producing into a female.  (Miller, 2008)Abortions are not illegal in China, however executing the child after birth is; as a result many abortions were carried out and this lead to major gender disproportions of “about 118 males to 100 females due to a half a million sex-specific abortions every year.”  (Nosotro, 2000)

The Ideal Family

A governments attack to limit sex-specific abortions was a heavy restriction made on all over-the-counter abortion medications in 2007. This then would constrain the mistreated use of pharmaceutical supplies.  (Miller, 2008)However since sex specific abortions were no longer acceptable, some women are resorting to disproving the infant straight after birth if it was a girl. Some say that this is done as they cannot afford the dowry payments that families must give to daughters for when they reach marriage age. Others claim that “…death is better than condemning her to life as a woman…”  This statement proves that the womens’ life was harsh in the Imperial Era.  (Halsall, 1999)