page_title: Health in China
section_title: One-Child Policy
hierarchical_section_title: Health in China / Health Indicators / One-Child Policy
caption_attribution_description: English: propaganda poster at beginning of Chinese econmic reforms: family with one child in modern environment
context_page_description: Beginning in 1905, the Chinese government established its first Department of Health. With a more centralized body to manage health care, the Chinese Nationalist Party attempted to move toward Western method of healthcare delivery up until 1949. However, China's health system has undergone a number of changes since the Chinese Communist Revolution and subsequent declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949. From 1949 until 1976, Mao Zedong focused efforts on increasing primary care quality and accessibility and moved to improve rural health care with the dawn of the cultural revolution. A characteristic hallmark of this shift was the introduction of the rural cooperative medical scheme, in addition to "barefoot doctors" who focused on rural primary care. When Deng Xiaoping came to power, the Chinese government moved to a more privatized healthcare system. By 2003, the SARS outbreak prompted China to begin exploring new methods for healthcare delivery in order to avoid such a crisis in the future. China did attempt another healthcare system restructuring and began devoting more resources to providing medical care.
context_section_description: Created in 1979, under Deng Xiaoping, the One-Child Policy incentivized families to have children later and to only have one child or risk penalization. The One-Child Policy was a program created by the Chinese government as a reaction to the increasing population during the 1970s, that was thought to have negatively impacted China's economic growth. Implementation of the program included rewarding families who followed the program, fining families who resisted the policy, offering birth control/ contraceptives, and in some cases forced abortions. The policy was unevenly implemented throughout China and was easier established in urban areas rather than rural, because of ideals about family size and gender preferences. Prior to the One-Child Policy, the Chinese government had encouraged families to have more children in order to increase the future workforce, however, this promotion made the population of China in the 1970s increase at an alarming rate. Additionally, voluntary programs, involving family planning and contraceptive use, were proposed before the One-Child Policy was fully enforced.
caption: A poster from 1982 showing a Chinese family with one child
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