China is the world's most populous nation and its population has, on average, increased by over 25 people every minute, every day for the past 40 years. (Richards 5) For a developing country such as China, with 22 percent of the world's population and only 7 percent of the world's arable land, rapid and persistent population growth can contribute significantly to the nation's poverty levels and restrain its potential for economic growth. (Gu 42) China's one-child family policy was first announced in 1979. In a 1979 speech, Deng Xiaoping drew the first outlines of a policy to limit population growth, "Use whatever means you must to control China's population. Just do it." (Mosher 50) Basically the aim of China's one-child family policy
At present, only 5 percent of China's population is over 65 years old, but a Chinese baby boom in the 1960's, coupled with China's one-child policy, could raise this figure to over 25 percent by 2030, causing a huge retirement bulge. (Richards 9) Government expenditure on support for the elderly, in the form of retirement pensions and medical care, has increased rapidly each year in urban areas but the retirement bulge will cause intense pressures in future. In rural areas, where there is no established pension scheme and parents rely on their children for security, a one-child society will result in too many dependent old and too few working young to fulfill these social obligations. The offspring of the one-child policy are reaching adulthood and many show little sense of family obligation. In a once unthinkable break with Confucian tradition, many refuse to care for their elders. (Beech 32) The Chinese people have not rebelled against the one-child policy. There has been no organized resistance, and few local demonstrations. Violence has been limited to occasional acts of revenge against family planning officials by distraught husbands and fathers. The vast majority of Chinese have chosen the path of quiet accommodation rather than confrontation. One reason is because of the pervasive fear of the regime. China's government scares most of its people that they tend closely to the state's desires and behave accordingly.