One Child Policy: Applicable to the Egyptian

Society or Not?
In the last fifteen years, the Egyptian government has
partnered with different international donor agencies to
achieve an ambitious population control program that is
based on the assumption that rapid population growth is a
prime obstacle to reaching the developmental goals set by
the Egyptian government. Although many efforts were
made, the massive population growth could not be stopped,
and even though the idea of birth control was introduced, it
was not enough to have effective results to slow down the
population rate. That is why the government has recently
introduced another idea namely the application of Chinas
One Child Policy to Egypt. The policy, which began in China
in the 1970s, prohibits Chinese couples from bearing more
than one child. Additional children would result in fines. The
policy was introduced to minimize social, economic and
environmental problems, and authorities claim that it has
prevented about 400 million births (China to keep). The
question is, could this policy ever be applied to Egypt?
Although the application of the one child policy is becoming
a necessity in the Egyptian society due to the
overpopulation, it would be very difficult to actually apply it
due to social, cultural and economic barriers.
One of the main aspects that hinder the application of
the One Child Policy in Egypt is the social aspect. The policy
has been proved to have violated human rights and
individual freedom by limiting peoples reproductive rights,
which are recognized as basic human rights. Reproductive
rights allow couples to decide on the number, timing and
spacing of births without state intervention (Unfair
Burdens, 2008). So when the policy prohibits couples from
having more than one child, it is preventing them from their
freedom to decide how many children they want to have,
when they want to have them and what age differences
between them they prefer. The policy also violates the right
of the child to have a brother/sister. Each child loves to
have company all the time, and someone their age to play
with and share their developing experiences. Also, when
they grow up, it is a necessity for them to have someone
they know so well and trust so much to support them
throughout their lives. Thus, when the state permits only
one child per family, this child is prevented from all the

pleasures of having a brother/sister that are considered the

best friends of a lifetime.
The cultural views in Egypt also prevent the policy
from being applied. Both culture and religion do not allow
the One Child Policy due to various reasons. The first reason
is inherited traditions. In many parts of Egypt, especially
Upper Egypt, people have a tradition of giving birth to many
children so that they can honor the family and carry the
family name later when the parents die. Throughout the
generations, this tradition was carried on and Egyptians got
used to having many kids. So if the policy was applied, a
revolution would probably happen against the government
by the people to protect their heritage and freedom. The
second reason is the religious barriers. According to AlAzhar Grand Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, the number
of children a family decides to have is a personal choice,
but he stressed that Islam requires families to take full
responsibility of their children, and he stated that Parents
should only have children they can provide for (Saleh,
2009). It is probably the most logical rule to abide with.
Opponents of One Child Policy claim that applying the
policy would be beneficial in terms of limiting population
growth, aiding economic development; applying the policy
would give people a chance to raise their income and their
living standards, and would reduce the percentage of
unemployment in the country due to the lower population.
However, these same financial concerns represent major
obstacle that holds back the one child policy from being
applied in Egypt. Poverty and illiteracy are probably the
main reasons why people do not have enough awareness to
know the draw-backs of overpopulation, so it is not
expected from them to understand a policy which according
to them is an interference with one of their most private
matters and takes away one of their most significant rights.
Some poor Egyptian families consider their children their
only investment in life which is a reason many experts give
for large families. The Central Agency for Public
Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) also indicates that
poor families are more likely to give birth to many children
(6 children per family), while the rate stands at 4 kids in
educated families and middle- income families (El-Naggar,
2009). Therefore, Egyptian illiterate poor families, which do
not care about educating their children as they become a
helping hand in the daily struggle for a better standard of
living, would not care about the education privileges that
accompany the One Child Policy which indicates that the
childs education fees would be covered by the government.

The policy would face many kinds of problems before

it could ever be applied in Egypt and that is due to the
different culture and traditions of the Egyptian society.
Egyptians should be more aware of the consequences of
overpopulation so that the government would not be forced
to finally apply a policy that would interfere with every
single familys private life and limit their rights.