Xu, Y; Woodyer, T; (2020) One child policy, China. In: Cook, DT, (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies. (pp. 1156-1157). SAGE Publications Ltd: London, UK.

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Abstract

China’s one-child policy is renowned as the most aggressive and comprehensive population policy in the world. Introduced in China in 1979 at a time of high labour surplus, unemployment, and poverty, the policy sought to minimise the negative effects of population growth on China’s economic development. The policy allowed each Chinese couple to have only one child, although implementation of the policy varied locally, with exceptions for ethnic minorities, couples in rural areas (normally, whose first child is a girl), and couples with a severely disabled child. It allegedly decreased the population by 400 million people compared to predicted figures of population growth pre-implementation. By legislating when couples could give birth and how many children they could have, the policy shaped Chinese family life in fundamental ways. The policy was very controversial both within and beyond China, triggering debates on human rights, reproductive freedom, and social inequalities. It is reported to have resulted in forced sterilisations and abortions and increased levels of female abandonment, infant mortality, and infanticide. It has also had impacts in neighbouring countries as a skewed sex ratio has prompted human trafficking of women in response to young men’s struggle to find Chinese wives. The one-child policy was abolished in 2015 (and later succeeded by a two-child policy in 2016) and has had significant social, economic, cultural, and political influences on Chinese society within and beyond its over three decades of implementation. This entry examines the phenomenon of unregistered children in China during the one-child era, some of the specific issues that arose during the one-child generation, how the policy differently impacted girls and boys and altered perceptions of gender value within Chinese households, and some directions for future research.

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