by Denise Neville

Created on: July 15, 2009

All countries have policies, but one country in particular has a policy in place that was suppose to eliminate it's over population. In 1980 China implemented its One Child Policy as a way to control population growth. With restrictions in place it's citizens were told how many children they were allowed to conceive. This was to be a temporary fix to China's problem, but as the years passed the policy remained in tact.

In China in order for a couple to marry the girl must be 20 years of age and the boy 22. They will have to apply for a marriage permit and a birth permit. For those couples who wanted to conceive a baby they had to present a birth plan to a Birth Control Coordinator who would tightly control the couples pregnancy, and the amount of children planned.For those who did not have a birth plan in place conceived they were told to pay a fine of which many could not afford. Without a birth plan they could not receive a birth certificate for their child.Therefore these children became unrecognized citizens of China.

In 1984 China allowed it's citizens the right to have another child if the first child was a girl or if the child was disabled. China favors boys more so than girls as having a son will carry on the family name and be able to care for elderly parents.For most people in rural communities have children in hiding because they can't afford the fines and they fear what authorities will do.

As China's One Child Policy has continued over the years it has caused unusual problems. One problem in particular has developed, the trafficking of children. Most of these children are stolen from parents when they are very young. Then they are sold to older, wealthy couples who want a child usually a boy. Most of these children are taken while they are between the ages of 2 to 6, as they are not attending school and have no idea of where they live, this makes their escape less likely.

Couples who are buying a child are looking for a child who is not too much work, usually male, and over one year old. The price for boys is much higher than for girls. The trafficer will negotiate a price with the buying couple and the family selling the child. This process happens often, people are making money from innocent lives. Many parents are searching for their children without the help from the Chinese government. Every year over 70,000 children are taken from the streets of China.

Recently China has reviewed this policy, they are noticing some errors in the policy, one of which is the amount of boys to girls. China's population of boys out numbers girls 120 to 100. Also having a country of only children can have it's own difficulties as the recent earthquake in Sichuan where thousands of children died and left parents without any children.

With 2010 approaching China is re-evaluating it's One Child Policy as they feel the policy has not been the fix that it was supposed to be. What will be in China's future?

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