Costs of Aggressive Population Control
The children of the Chinese One-child policy are finding new obstacles in their paths: no one wants to hire them. Incredible, but true. It seems that many of the only children have been so pampered by their parents, that employers do not find them suitable workers. Some have called these children, “Little Emperors,” because their parents dote on them so thoroughly. Evidently, this is not good preparation for working in the global economy!
Recently, China Daily reports, the Sinohydro Engineering Bureau No. 1 in the central province of Henan held a job fair for students majoring in hydro-electricity. But when Chen Fengxin expectantly handed over his resume, it was not murmurs of approval he heard but these questions: “Are you from a village? Do you have any brothers and sisters?” If he was from a city, and especially if he was an only child (as city children are more likely to be), the recruiter was not interested. Chen was stunned.
A female representative of the hydro scheme explained to a local paper: “Students from cities and only children cannot endure the hardships incurred in the process of geological exploration. Brain drain is rife,” she said, adding that parents of only children hope their offspring can stay close to them and not work too far away.
Just another hidden cost of China’s aggressive population control program.
Cross posted at my blog.
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