The One Child Policy was instituted in 1979 in an effort to curb population growth due to it's already strained infrastructure. The One Child Policy was intended to ease the strain on public services like health and education as well as allow for China's economy to grow to support the population with jobs and income. Although the One Child Policy has worked to diminish the population, it has had unintended consequences that are epic in proportions and will cause other social problems that will affect all parts of society from young people, to the elderly, to the economy and to political stability.  The One Child Policy planners in the 1970's probably did not account for these consequences and now the intended positive impact of the One Child Policy might be canceled out by the negative ones.

The One Child Policy effectively caused there to be a wide disproportion of male and females in China. It's so bad that's it's currently at 117:100. That means for every 100 females, there are 117 males. That might not seem that high, but when it comes to China, you have to multiply everything several times. So what does this mean? China, because of One Child Policy, has roughly 600 million females and 700 million males.  That means there are 100 million more males than females!

There are many theories roaming around about why this happened. The most obvious one is that there is a strong preference for boys in Chinese culture just like in most eastern traditional cultures. So if you're limited to having just one kid, you're going to want a boy. The One Child Policy means that if you're a parent, you can only have one kid to support you when you're in your old age. If that kid is a girl, they will most likely marry off and her and her husband will probably support the husband's parents, not the wife's. And that's just the practical side of things. Of course, the male is the one who carries on the family name. So the One Child Policy mixed in with an already strong preference for boys has led to the gradual wide disproportion of male and females in China.

Many say that the One Child Policy has caused people to have abortions when they find out that the baby is a girl. Obviously it doesn't happen all the time or the male female proportions would be drastically higher.  But how else can you explain the disproportion with a natural cause?

This problem that the One Child Policy has created is of course causing a lot of issues.  The most obvious point is that the One Child Policy has caused there to be not enough females to marry the males.  That means there are at least 100 million males out there that won't get married or be able to find a wife.  This of course doesn't calculate the many Chinese women that either marry foreign men or are trafficked in the sex trade industry in Asia.

Can you imagine just the physical consequences of this?  You have 100 million men roaming around China with pent-up sexual drives.  Socially, everyone knows that marriage is the foundation institution of a society.  It tends to settle men down, causes them to become more productive and keeps young men out of trouble.  Another social problem caused by the One Child Policy is the sexual promiscuity.

Remember this ratio, because it’s going to be critically important in the next 100 years in China. According to demographers, this ratio will permeate just about every area of life in China, socially, politically and economically. So what does this ratio mean? Well, in 1979 the One Child Policy was implemented, and now those only children are becoming working age, while their parents are closing in on retirement, and their grandparents have been long retired. Yes, you’ve probably figured out the math by now: eventually and imminently, there will 4 grandparents and 2 parents being supported by 1 working child, 4-2-1. And you think the social security system in the US is a mess? Compounded by the fact that the retirement age in China is 60 years old, it will leave many millions with a bankrupt pension system, and many more millions, especially in the poor rural countryside who are without any social insurance at all, with very little support post-retirement.

The One Child Policy is effectively the worse case in planning ahead in the history of mankind.

The population is quickly becoming top-heavy with a graying generation and the one child policy will create a humanitarian crisis of under served elderly like we’ve never seen in the history.

One of the intended consequences of the One Child Policy was to ease the strain on it's public health services sector and now the One Child Policy might cause the cost of taking care of the elderly might cancel out what it would have cost without the One Child Policy.