China is everywhere these days and we can see that China influences our lives in many ways. It is not hard to find a product with the label “made in China” on it. China has a major effect on the international market. So what will happen if China’s working population becomes more elderly? China’s elderly population has begun to take a toll on its economy in the past three decades. The one child policy has also weakened China’s workforce and it has caused this massive increase in the elderly population.
The one child policy has left China’s working population looking very gray. Policy changes have aided in movement towards a solution to this problem. The One-Child policy has left three decades of problems for its citizens and government. The Communist Party of China pushed new legislation. This new legislation was the two child policy. The two child policy is not an instant remedy to this problem. This change in policy is to address the looming problem of the growing elderly population. There is also the issue of security.
With China’s youth depleting, how will its relationship with other actors be effected? These problem have long lasting effects on the meaning of the economic structure in China because there is no instant solution to this problem. So what solutions does China have to fix its economic, labor and security problems? If China does not address these problems what implications does it have on its international affairs? Moreover, changes in policy are very important.
They are very important because in China there was once implemented a one-child policy. China’s massive population is a legacy of Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung, who strove to increase the ranks of the Red Army by encouraging large families and banning imports of contraceptives and declaring their use a capitalist plot. ” (Weiss, K. R. , 2012, July 22). The one child policy was part of a family planning policy that was meant to control the rapid growing population in China. The one-child policy was introduced in 1979 and had decreased the birth rate by 400 million births.
The policy was meant to reduce the population by forcing/enticing people to only have one child. The Communist Party would also state that the one-child policy was a way preserve natural recourses and prevent more pollution. “The colossal industrial expansion of recent decades has depleted natural resources and polluted the skies and streams. China now consumes half the world’s coal supply. It leads all nations in emissions of carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming. Pollutants from its smokestacks cause acid rain in Seoul and Tokyo. ” (Weiss, K. R. 2012, July 22).
Health problems would arise and people would be seen walking around the city with masks on. For example, in Datong, the sky is disgustingly bleak. Clouded with smog and pollution the city resembled highly industrial nations. The city, once known for its fruit and flowers, is now infamous for respiratory illnesses and the shroud of smog that regularly blots out the sun. When the sun does manage to poke through, it appears as a burnt orange fireball, reminiscent of Southern California’s eerie skies during raging wildfires. ”
In addition, “The U. S. consumes much more per person. But with a population four times larger, China has a greater collective appetite and a greater ecological impact than any other country. ” (Weiss, K. R. , 2012, July 22). By the 1990s, the tree population around the Yangtze river was almost depleted. This meant that the soil would displace easier. Floods would then occur caused immense damage around it. “The inundations across central China drowned more than 3,000 people, destroyed 13 million homes and caused at least $24 billion in damage. ” (Weiss, K. R. , 2012, July 22).
This of course caused great concern and new policy changes. In order to keep the people and their families safe, reforestation projects were pushed and incentives for farmers to take care of this lands came along with it. Change in policy is very important. Once the Communist Party became aware of the problems that were arising because of the one child policy, there was policy reform. Instead of would-be parents only being allowed to have one child, they were now allowed to have two. Moreover, since China has had this one child policy, most parents only have one child to take of them.
The Communist Party is trying to find a solution for the growing elderly population through self-governances. Unfortunately, As we all know, we all need to work and everyone leads a busy a life. Sometimes our jobs take over our personal lives. Sometimes we embarrassingly use this as an excuse to not visit out parents or take care of other responsibilities. The Communist Party took note of this and added a law to motivate these children to visit their parents. But if China is still so family oriented then this law should not be inconvenient to them.
On the contrary, this law was enacted because there was an increasing amount of reports of elderly parents being neglected by their children. “Many were shocked by the story of a 91-year-old grandmother who was beaten and forced out of her home in China’s southern Jiangsu province after she asked her daughter-in-law for a bowl of rice porridge. ” (Hatton, C. , 2013, July 1). Where did traditional china go? Traditional China is still there, but a bit more modern. Meng Meng and Katie Hunt wrote an article on this called New Chinses law: Visit Your Parents.
Meng and Hunt state that “Although respect for the elderly is still deeply engrained in Chinese society, traditional values like filial piety have been weakened by the country’s rush to modernity. ” (Meng, M. , & Hunt, K. , 2013, July 2). The family ties are still strong. Parents are still trying to vouch for what is best and easier for their children at the end of the day. Parents see this as a law that would burden their children physically and spiritually for no reason. This ties into the idea of harmony. The Chinese greatly value harmony. If this is disturbed, then the families’ happiness and prosperity are also doomed.
They interview an elderly man name Cheng Zhegang who has this to say “For me, my daughter’s career is the most important thing. As the parent of an only child, I have spent so much time and money on my daughter’s education and now I want her to be successful. ” (Meng, M. , & Hunt, K. , 2013, July 2). So if China’s elderly does not want to move in with its children, what can the government do take care of them? Also, what effects does a law that basically forces you to visit your elderly parents have on a population? Both of these problems have an impact on the health care system and social services.
