Population Control

Population Control 

During the years 1978, The Chinese premier-Hua Guo Feng said that the family planning policy was very important because it worked to the benefit of controlling the population, developing the economy, and protecting mother and children’s health. The Chinese government needed to control the population because it was the most populous country. In fact, the Chinese tradition used to advocate that families have many children. Especially, the people who live in the villages consider that more children are better. In my hometown,KaiPing, GuangDong, people also have a deep-rooted prejudice about the preference for male babies who can carry on the family line. For example, my grandmother’s brother studied aboard in Taiwan, but my grandmother and her sisters needed to share responsibility for their family and married early around the age of twenty. However, the government focused on and implemented the family planning policy which is based on one-child policy and two-child policy. The one-child policy was mainly implemented in cities and started in 1980. If a couple had only one child and got a one-child certification, they could get the one-child bonus. The government also implemented the two-child policy for families that live in villages in 1982. Because my parents lived in the village, my parents could have a second child after I was born. I feel lucky that grew up with my younger brother.  The two-child policy also influenced my life a lot. 

My life quality improved after the policy was implemented.  My grandmother told me some things about herself. Because she had eight siblings, the family could not afford to support them. Most of them lost the chance of getting an education. The family did not have enough money to pay tuition. In fact, her parents worked all the time and rarely bought new clothes. They still did not have enough food to eat. Because my family does not have many children, we had the chance to get an education. For instance, my parents’ salaries were enough to offer us to study. My parents are of a new generation and they think boys and girls are the same. Even though I have a younger brother, my parents still let me feel equal with my brother. When I was growing up and my parents bought something for my brother, they also bought something for me.  

In addition, my family’s social status was higher after the policy was implemented. In the past, many women took care of their family and stayed home. The women also did not have authority to make decisions. However, the typical who lived in the village only had one or two children and had to find the job. My mother got a job to support the family, and it did not impact on her ability to take care of our family. My mother cooked as usual. My mother can make decisions because she shares responsibility with my father. My parents put their money in the same account. Therefore, they would discuss and decide financial decisions together. I once remembered my mother and my father had different ideas about the type of kitchen to install. At the end, my father agreed with my mother that chose the L- shape kitchen because he considered my mother would spend more time in the kitchen. Because my father communicated with my mother more and knew her more, it helped them to reduce some conflicts. 

Finally, I felt high pressure because I could not have enough strength to support my parents. In China, children have an obligation to support their parents when they get old. If children do not support their parents, the government will force them to pay their parents every month.  In fact, my salary would not cover all of them because my parents only have two children. Before I married, my income was not enough to support the whole family. For example, my mother used to buy carrot is one yuan per pound, but it is three yuan per pound now. After I married and lived with my husband’s family, our salaries needed to support our parents and a kid. My mother did not go to work because she did not feel well. I also could not take good care of them because my energy is limited. If my daughter and mother-in-law were sick, I did not have enough energy to take care of them at the same time. It is hard for me to balance my job, my study and my family. 

Due to the two-child policy, everything is becoming better. Because my parents only have two children, I get the same love as my younger brother from my parents. My parents celebrated my brother’s birthday and gave him a birthday gift, I also got one. My parents do not have the tradition ideology that the boy is more important than the girl. If I made the house messy with my brother, my parents did not force me do all the clean work. If I had some problems ask to my brother for help, he would tell me and do it as soon as possible. I once was sick and told brother, he did not say anything and rode his bike to buy medicine for me. I am happy to grow up with my brother without alone.