China IV: One Child Policy

(Note: I have just returned from a three-week visit to China and Hong Kong and am reflecting

on some of my experiences and impressions in a series of blogs of which this is No. 4.) 

The trip to China from which I recently returned was trip number seven since 1989. On each trip virtually every one of my Chinese hosts has chosen to talk about the China One Child Policy. This is very understandable because almost everyone in China is affected by it. First put into action in 1978 it limits family size to one child for all couples except those in selected rural areas, minority groups and parents whose first children are a set of twins.

The results are dramatic. It is estimated that half a billion births have been prevented. In the past, births of female fetuses were often avoided through abortion. (It is now illegal for any person to reveal to a pregnant mother the gender of a fetus as shown on a sonogram). Births of daughters were often unreported so that the couple would wait for the second child (hopefully a male) and that birth would be recorded as “first child”. All of this has resulted in a situation where there are approximately 117 young males for every 100 females. Another result from this endeavor is that India has or soon will exceed China as the world’s most populous country. Another obvious outcome is that the number of younger people in the workplace who support the elderly is now dramatically reduced.  

Family dynamics are, of course, significantly influenced. People have no aunts, uncles or cousins. Two sets of grandparents have only one grandchild among the four of them. Parents wonder if their one child will be able to support them in the traditional way of caring for them. (There are even for-profit endeavors to provide Senior Citizen Retirement Communities that can be a source of profit for those who operate them. And, to date, there are virtually no state-mandated regulations for such endeavors.)

 Enforcement of the One Child policy has also become more difficult. Three years ago I still heard female elementary teachers saying that if they already had one child (a daughter) they sometimes were forced to take a pregnancy test to ensure that if they were pregnant they would be required to get an abortion. In my last two trips I was told that this practice has now been stopped. In the past all persons had severe limitations as to where they could live It was all government assigned. Now there is much greater freedom of choice and people buy their own apartments. In the past families with more than one child were on a lower admissions priority for hospital care than families with only one child. That, too, is not something I heard about as still being practiced.

A significant impact has been on parenting styles. While this may be true in all cultures, it is my belief that the “authoritarian’ or “permissive” reality is doubly true in China. Each parent will have only one child. Each grandparent will have only one grandchild. One response is that some really want that child to be an absolutely outstanding perfect child in every way and so the elders are very strict, very authoritarian, often quite punishing of unacceptable behavior. (See the Tiger Mom syndrome.) On the other extreme are those parents and grandparents who say, “You are our only child (grandchild). You are the empress/emperor in our family. Whatever toy, or clothing, or gadget, or second McDonalds you want. it is yours!” To suggest to parents that there is an alternative to these two options is a very hard sell, is counter culture and is why the introduction Parent Effectiveness Training in China is moving ahead very, very slowly.

A recent change I have noticed: I had several people, especially women, say they would be just as happy or even happier to have a girl child than a male child. One taxi driver father with whom we chatted even said that he wished that one of his two children were a girl so that he would get at least one dowry!

As indicated above, there is a growing concern as to how the younger generation will be able to support the much larger older generation. Just last month I was told that in March there was a significant change in policy. Under the new policy if both husband and wife are themselves single children then they are allowed to have two children. The other thing that I experienced, especially in Shanghai and the more affluent urban areas is that couples are choosing to have more than one child because they now have incomes to overcome the state-imposed penalties (poorer housing or higher taxes et sim). They have the resources for a second child so they choose to have them. Concurrently (especially in places like Shenzhen) young couples are choosing to live together without formal marriages and those couples are either not having any children at all or are significantly delaying the birth of their first child. Lastly, the divorce rate in urban areas is rising dramatically (50% now in some areas) so those couples, too, are choosing to not have even that one child.

Three things are certain: 1. China central government will continue to adopt and attempt to enforce a countrywide “population growth policy”. 2. Enforcement will vary greatly from province to province. 3. Children of both genders will be conceived, born and grow up in very complex interconnected world which last week experienced the birth of its 7 billionth living resident.

(Note: I have just returned from a three-week visit to China and Hong Kong and am reflecting

on some of my experiences and impressions in a series of blogs of which this is No. 4.) 

The trip to China from which I recently returned was trip number seven since 1989. On each trip virtually every one of my Chinese hosts has chosen to talk about the China One Child Policy. This is very understandable because almost everyone in China is affected by it. First put into action in 1978 it limits family size to one child for all couples except those in selected rural areas, minority groups and parents whose first children are a set of twins.

The results are dramatic. It is estimated that half a billion births have been prevented. In the past, births of female fetuses were often avoided through abortion. (It is now illegal for any person to reveal to a pregnant mother the gender of a fetus as shown on a sonogram). Births of daughters were often unreported so that the couple would wait for the second child (hopefully a male) and that birth would be recorded as “first child”. All of this has resulted in a situation where there are approximately 117 young males for every 100 females. Another result from this endeavor is that India has or soon will exceed China as the world’s most populous country. Another obvious outcome is that the number of younger people in the workplace who support the elderly is now dramatically reduced.  

Family dynamics are, of course, significantly influenced. People have no aunts, uncles or cousins. Two sets of grandparents have only one grandchild among the four of them. Parents wonder if their one child will be able to support them in the traditional way of caring for them. (There are even for-profit endeavors to provide Senior Citizen Retirement Communities that can be a source of profit for those who operate them. And, to date, there are virtually no state-mandated regulations for such endeavors.)

 Enforcement of the One Child policy has also become more difficult. Three years ago I still heard female elementary teachers saying that if they already had one child (a daughter) they sometimes were forced to take a pregnancy test to ensure that if they were pregnant they would be required to get an abortion. In my last two trips I was told that this practice has now been stopped. In the past all persons had severe limitations as to where they could live It was all government assigned. Now there is much greater freedom of choice and people buy their own apartments. In the past families with more than one child were on a lower admissions priority for hospital care than families with only one child. That, too, is not something I heard about as still being practiced.

A significant impact has been on parenting styles. While this may be true in all cultures, it is my belief that the “authoritarian’ or “permissive” reality is doubly true in China. Each parent will have only one child. Each grandparent will have only one grandchild. One response is that some really want that child to be an absolutely outstanding perfect child in every way and so the elders are very strict, very authoritarian, often quite punishing of unacceptable behavior. (See the Tiger Mom syndrome.) On the other extreme are those parents and grandparents who say, “You are our only child (grandchild). You are the empress/emperor in our family. Whatever toy, or clothing, or gadget, or second McDonalds you want. it is yours!” To suggest to parents that there is an alternative to these two options is a very hard sell, is counter culture and is why the introduction Parent Effectiveness Training in China is moving ahead very, very slowly.

A recent change I have noticed: I had several people, especially women, say they would be just as happy or even happier to have a girl child than a male child. One taxi driver father with whom we chatted even said that he wished that one of his two children were a girl so that he would get at least one dowry!

As indicated above, there is a growing concern as to how the younger generation will be able to support the much larger older generation. Just last month I was told that in March there was a significant change in policy. Under the new policy if both husband and wife are themselves single children then they are allowed to have two children. The other thing that I experienced, especially in Shanghai and the more affluent urban areas is that couples are choosing to have more than one child because they now have incomes to overcome the state-imposed penalties (poorer housing or higher taxes et sim). They have the resources for a second child so they choose to have them. Concurrently (especially in places like Shenzhen) young couples are choosing to live together without formal marriages and those couples are either not having any children at all or are significantly delaying the birth of their first child. Lastly, the divorce rate in urban areas is rising dramatically (50% now in some areas) so those couples, too, are choosing to not have even that one child.

Three things are certain: 1. China central government will continue to adopt and attempt to enforce a countrywide “population growth policy”. 2. Enforcement will vary greatly from province to province. 3. Children of both genders will be conceived, born and grow up in very complex interconnected world which last week experienced the birth of its 7 billionth living resident.