newly ancient

China faces a gender imbalance with many more boys being born than girls. For every 118 boys born in China, there are only 100 girls born. This gap in gender is caused by cultural heritage and government policy. Traditionally, Chinese have favored boys over girls. This cultural favoring is reinforced by government policies which allow only one child per couple. Since couples can only have one child to care for them in their old age, they would prefer a boy since they can make more money and are harder workers. The government is proposing plans to combat this such as a pension for couples who have a girl. Of China’s immense population, the majority are males. (via AP report)

A gender imbalance threatens for long term social and economic issues. China’s economy has been built upon the masses that are willing to work for low wages. If the Chinese government continues to impose these harsh sanctions upon growth, the masses will cease to be masses. If 9% of the population cannot marry, they are likely to be unhappy and will not have children. Unless the government takes strong steps to avoid this imbalance of males and females, there will be a decreasingly small workforce – consisting almost exclusively of men. Even if the government does draft powerful policies, the cultural barrier will remain. Unlike in the United States where girls are valued for their maternal instincts, boys will always be highly valued in China. Due to the economic stability of the United States, families can chose to have girls who will extend the family tree and raise their own families – without having to worry about needing a boy to provide for them. Whether you are a small business or a powerful government, it is important to have a thorough understanding of our competitor’s weaknesses and strengths. Seeing the problems China’s one child policy has created, the U.S. government will be hesitant to create any such policies and thus will continue to have a growing workforce. A gender imbalance threatens to decrease the population of any country; and people are the power.