Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

One Child, Only Hope? No More: The Evolution of China’s Population Control Policy and Its Impact on Parenting and Childcare

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Investment in Early Childhood Education in a Globalized World

Abstract

This chapter begins with a historical overview of China’s family planning policies, including the One-Child Policy, and the Universal Two-Child Policy, elucidating the historical, social, and political context of the implementation. It discusses the effects of the family planning policies on human capital investment and parent–child relationship. This chapter further explores how parenting philosophy, expectations, and practices have changed in response to globalization. It concludes with the findings from the current empirical case study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anagnost, A. (2008). Imagining global futures in China: The child as a sign of value. In J. Cole & D. Durham (Eds.), Figuring the future: Globalization and the temporalities of children and youth (pp. 49–72). Santa Fe, NM: School for Advanced Research Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attané, I. (2016). Demographic aging in China: Perspectives and challenges. Autrepart, 80(4), 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banister, J. (1987). China’s changing population. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K. (1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67(6), 3296–3319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G., & Lewis, H. G. (1973). On the interaction between the quantity and quality of children. Journal of Political Economy, 81(2), S279–S288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bian, J. (1996). Parental monetary investments in children: A focus on China. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 17(1), 113–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blake. J. (1981). Family size and the quality of children. Demography, 18,421–442. Retrieved from https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft6489p0rr&chunk.id=d0e54240&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=ucpress.

  • Blake, J. (1989). Family size and achievement. Berkeley: University of California Press. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft6489p0rr/.

  • Bredenkamp, C. (2009). Policy-related determinants of child nutritional status in China: The effect of only-child status and access to healthcare. Social Science and Medicine, 69, 1531–1538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, F. (2010a). Demographic transition, demographic, and Lewis turning point in china. China Economic Journal, 3(1), 107–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai, Y. (2010b). China’s below-replacement fertility: Government policy or socioeconomic development? Population and Development Review, 36(3): 419–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development, 65, 1111–1119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chao, R. K., & Tseng, V. (2002). Parenting of Asians. In M. H. Born-stein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (Vol. 4, pp. 59–93). Social conditions and applied parenting. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S. (2011). Chinese women opting out of the workforce. CNN Travel. Retrieved from http://travel.cnn.com/shanghai/life/chinese-women-opting-out-workforce-591654/.

  • Chen, X., & Chen, H. (2010). Children’s social functioning and adjustment in the changing Chinese society. In R. K. Silbereisen & X. Chen (Eds.), Social change and human development: Concepts and results (pp. 209–226). London, UK: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, L. Y. (2016, December 20). China’s Tiger Moms are spending big on tech classes for their kids. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-12-20/china-s-tiger-moms-are-spending-thousands-for-stem-education-and-robot-classes-for-their-kids.

  • Chen-Bouck, L., Duan, C., & Patterson, M. M. (2017). A qualitative study of urban, Chinese middle-class mother’s parenting for adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 32(4), 479–508. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0743558416630815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, C. K., & Kwan, A. Y.-H. (2009). The erosion of filial piety by modernization in Chinese cities. Aging and Society, 29(2), 179–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • China Statistical Yearbook. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2016/indexeh.htm.

  • Chow, E. N., & Chen, K. (1989). The impact of the one-child policy on women and the patriarchal family in the People’s Republic of China. In E. N. Chow & C. W. Berheide (Eds.), Women, the family, and policy: A global perspective (pp. 71–98). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chua, A. (2011). Battle hymn of the tiger mother. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Daily Chinese Business News. (2018, August 17). Are there many ding ke families? The ratio of ding ke families in China in 2018 (丁克族多吗? 2018中国丁克家庭比例数量). Retrieved from https://www.mrcjcn.com/n/284597.html.

  • Ebenstein, A. (2010). The “missing girls” of China and the unintended consequences of the one child policy. The Journal of Human Resources, 45(1), 87–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erdenebileg, Z. (2016). Holding up half the sky? Assessing the current state of female employment in China. China Business Review, 1, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferree, M. M., & Merrill, D. A. (2000). Hot movements, cold cognition: Thinking about social movements in gendered frames. Contemporary Sociology, 29, 454–462.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick, L. (2009). China’s one-child policy. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1912861,00.html.

  • Fong, V. (2002). China’s one-child policy and the empowerment of urban daughters. American Anthropology, 104, 1098–1109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong, V. (2007). Parent-child communication problems and perceived inadequacies of Chinese only children. Ethos, 35, 85–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fong, M. (2016, January 3). Sterilization, abortion, fines: How China brutally enforced its 1-child policy. Retrieved from http://nypost.com/2016/01/03/how-chinas-pregnancy-police-brutally-enforced-the-one-child-policy/.

  • Ford, P. (2010). In China, kindergarten costs more than college. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0223/In-China-kindergarten-costs-more-than-college.

  • Freeberne, M. (1965). Birth control in China. Population Studies, 18(1), 5–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fung, H. (1999). Becoming a moral child: The socialization of shame among young Chinese children. Ethos, 27(2), 180–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fung, H., & Chen, E. C. H. (2001). Across time and beyond skin: Self and transgression in the everyday socialization of shame among Taiwanese preschool children. Social Development, 10(3), 419–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabrenya, W. K., & Hwang, K. K. (1996). Chinese social interaction: Harmony and hierarchy on the good earth. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 309–321). London: Oxford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Global AgeWatch Index. (2015). Insight report. Retrieved from http://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/.

  • Goodstadt, L. F. (1982). China’s one-child family: Policy and public responses. Population and Development Review, 8(1), 37–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gough, N. (2016, October 18). As China’s economy slows, a look at what could happen. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/19/business/international/china-economy-slows-impact.html.

  • Greenhalgh, S. (2003a). Science, modernity, and the making of China’s one-child policy. Population and Development Review, 29(2), 163–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhalgh, S. (2003b). Planned birth, unplanned persons: “Population” in the making of Chinese modernity. American Ethnologist, 30(2), 196–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhalgh, S. (2012). Patriarchal demographics? China’s sex ratio reconsidered. Population and Development Review, 38, 130–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hannum, E., Kong, P., & Zhang, Y. (2009). Family sources of educational gender inequality in rural China: A critical assessment. International Journal of Educational Development, 29(5): 474–486. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.04.007.

  • Hanushek, E. A. (1992). The trade-off between child quantity and quality. Journal of Political Economy, 100(1), 84–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • He, F. & Chen, C. (2018, October 25). “Made in China 2025”: A peek at the robot revolution under way in the hub of the “world’s factory”. South China Morning Post. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/2164103/made-china-2025-peek-robot-revolution-under-way-hub-worlds.

  • Hesketh, T., Li, L., & Zhu, W. X. (2005). The effect of China’s one-child family policy after 25 years. The New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved on November 6, 2010 from www.nejm,org.

  • Ho, D. Y. F. (1986). Chinese patterns of socialization: A critical review. In M. Bond (Ed.), The psychology of the Chinese people (pp. 1–37). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, D. Y. F. (1996). Filial piety and its psychological consequences. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 155–165). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, L. J. (1982). Planned fertility of one-couple/one-child policy in the People’s Republic of China. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 44, 775–784.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikels, C. (1993). Settling accounts: The intergenerational contract in an age of reform. In D. Davis, & S. Harrell (Eds.), Chinese families in the post-Mao era (pp. 307–333). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • The International Labor Organization. (2015). World employment and social outlook 2015: The changing nature of jobs. Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/publication/wcms_368626.pdf.

  • Kim, S. Y., Wang, Y., Orozco-Lapray, D., Shen, Y., & Murtuza, M. (2013). Does “tiger parenting” exist? Parenting profiles of Chinese Americans and adolescent developmental outcomes. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4, 7–18. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0030612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knodel, J., & Wongsith, M. (1991). Family size and children’s education in Thailand: Evidence from a national sample. Demography, 28(1), 119–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lau, S., & Yeung, P. P. W. (1996). Understanding Chinese child development: The role of culture in socialisation. In S. Lau (Ed.), Growing up the Chinese way: Chinese child and adolescent development (pp. 29–44). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests of the People’s Republic of China. (1992). Available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4a38f8b72.html.

  • Lee, J. (2008). Sibling size and investment in children’s education: An Asian instrument. Journal of Population and Economy, 21(4), 855–875.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M. (2012). The one-child policy and gender equality in education in China: evidence from household data. Journal of Family and Economics, 33, 41–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, B. J., & Zhang, H. L. (2017). Does population control lead to better child quality? Evidence from China’s one-child policy enforcement. Journal of Comparative Economics, 45, 246–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, J., Dow, W. H., & Rosero-Bixby, L. (2017). Education gains attributable to fertility decline: Patterns by gender, period, and country in Latin America and Asia. Demography, 54(4), 1353–1373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, J. B., Delvecchino, E., Miconi, D., Salcani, S., & Di Riso, D. (2014). Parental attachment among Chinese, Italian, and Costa Rican adolescents: A cross-cultural study. Personality and Individual Differences, 71, 118–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, S. (1989). China’s population policy: A model of a constant stream of birth. Population Research and Policy Review, 8, 279–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liao, P. J. (2013). The one-child policy: A macroeconomic analysis. Journal of Development Economics, 101(C), 49–62. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.09.001.

  • Lin, C. Y. C., & Fu, V. R. (1990). A comparison of child-rearing practices among Chinese, immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American parents. Child Development, 61, 429–433. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02789.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y. (2016). Women rising as half of the sky? An empirical study on women from the one-child generation and their higher education participation in contemporary China. Higher Education, 74(6), 963–978. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0102-0.

  • Losoncz, I., & Tyson, G. (2007). Parental shaming and adolescent delinquency: A partial test of reintegrative shaming theory. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 40(2), 161–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mankiya, J., Lund, S., Chui, M., Bughin, J., Woetzel, J., Batra, P., … Sanghvi, S. (2017). Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills and wages. McKinsey Global Institute. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages#automation.

  • Miller, R. S. (1992). The nature and severity of self-reported embarrassing circumstances. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 190–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. S. (1995). On the nature of embarrassability: Shyness, social evaluation, and social skill. Journal of Personality, 63, 315–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. S. (1996). Embarrassment: Poise and peril in everyday life. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potts, M. (2006). China’s one-child policy: The policy that changed the world. Retrieved on November 11, 2010, from www.bmj.com.

  • Qi, X. Y. (2014). Filial obligation in contemporary China: Evolution of the culture-system. Journal of the Theory of Social Behaviour, 45(1), 141–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin, X. Z., Zhang, C. C., & Yang, R. D. (2017). Does the one-child policy improve children’s human capital in urban China? A regression discontinuity design. Journal of Comparative Economics, 45, 287–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren, Z. P. (2018). 生还是不生?——来自12万人的生育调查 [Second child or not? A survey on second birth among 120,000 Chinese people]. Retrieved from http://opinion.jrj.com.cn/2018/04/04094224349487.shtml.

  • Ren, M., & Yang, M. (2015). Pension coverage for parents and educational investment in children: Evidence from urban China (Policy Research Working Paper 7457). The World Bank Group. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/search?q=Ren%20and%20Yang%202015.

  • Reuters. (2017, July 16). China’s second-quarter GDP defies Fears of a slowdown with 6.9% growth. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/07/17/china-gdp-growth-forecast/.

  • Rosenberg, B. G., & Jing, Q. (1996). A revolution in family life: The political and social structural impact of China’s one child policy. Journal of Social Issues, 52(3), 51–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M. R., & Wolpin, K. I. (1980). Testing the quantity-quality fertility model: The use of twins as a natural experiment. Econometrica, 48(1), 227–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M. R., & Zhang, J. S. (2009). Do population control policies induce more human capital investment? Twins, birth weight and China’s “one-child” policy. The Review of Economic Studies, 76(3), 1149–1174. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-937X.2009.00563.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoenhals, M. (1993). The paradox of power in the People’s Republic of China middle school. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver, P. R., Wu, S., & Schwartz, J. C. (1992). Cross-cultural similarities and differences in emotion and its representation: A prototype approach. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology, 13, Emotion (pp. 175–212). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. L., Wu, C., Lin, K. H., Gordon, L., & Conger, R. D. (2000). A cross-cultural examination of the link between corporal punishment and adolescent antisocial behavior. Criminology, 38(1), 47–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, C. S. (2006). Corporal punishment and physical maltreatment against children: A community study on Chinese parents in Hong Kong. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 893–907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Ministry of Education. (2018). Brief report on Chinese overseas students and international students in China 2017. Retrieved from http://en.moe.gov.cn/documents/reports/201901/t20190115_367019.html.

  • The Ministry of Education. (2019). At-a-glance statistical data on 2018 spending in education. Retrieved from http://en.moe.gov.cn/documents/reports/201905/t20190505_380552.html.

  • Tilford, C. (2018). The millennial moment in charts. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/f81ac17a-68ae-11e8-b6eb-4acfcfb08c11.

  • Tsui, M., & Rich, L. (2002). The only child and educational opportunity for girls in urban China. Gender & Society, 16(1), 74–92. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016001005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veeck, A., Flurry, L., & Jiang, N. H. (2003). Equal dreams: The one child policy and the consumption of education in urban China. Consumption Markets & Culture, 6(1), 81–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, F., Cai, Y., & Gu, B. (2012). Population, policy, and politics: How will history judge China’s one-child policy?. Population and Development Review, 38, 115–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, F., Gu, B., & Cai, Y. (2016). The end of China’s one-child policy. Studies in Family Planning, 47(1), 83–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, M., & Liu, L. (2013). Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 1128–1137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserstrom, J. (1984). Resistance to the one-child family. Modern China, 10(3), 345–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White paper on Chinese Family Expenditure on Education, 中国家庭教育消费白皮书. (2017). Retrieved from http://data.weibo.com/report/reportDetail?id=373.

  • Whyte, M. (2005). Continuity and change in urban Chinese family life. The China Journal, 53, 9–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, M., & Pak, J. (2018, October 4). Why automation is a huge part of China’s goal to remake its manufacturing industry. Market Place. Retrieved from https://www.marketplace.org/2018/10/03/tech/china-wants-robots-lots-and-lots-robots.

  • The World Bank. (2018). Labor force participation rate. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=CN.

  • The World Bank. (2019). Gender data portal: China. Retrieved from http://datatopics.worldbank.org/gender/country/china.

  • The World Economic Forum’s (WEF). (2015). The global gender gap index. Retrieved from http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2015/the-global-gender-gap-index-results-in-2015/.

  • Wu, D. Y. H. (1996). Chinese childhood socialization. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 143–154). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, A. (2017, September 19). How do career women Balance work, child-raising? Retrieved from http://www.womenofchina.cn/survey.htm.

  • Xin, Y. (2017, August 12). Why Chinese parents spend huge amounts of money on children’s summer programs. Retrieved from https://www.whatsonweibo.com/chinese-parents-spend-exorbitant-amounts-money-childrens-summer-programs/.

  • Xinhua. (2015, September 24). China improves significantly education, health for women. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015xivisitus/2015-09/24/content_21968737.htm.

  • Xinhua. (2016, October 21). China facing labor shortage due to one-child policy. Retrieved from http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nation/China-facing-labor-shortage-due-to-onechild-policy/shdaily.shtml.

  • Xu, X., Zuo, H., Shi, Z., Rao, Y., Wang, L., Zeng, H., … Zhao, Y. (2017). Determinants of second pregnancy among pregnant women: a hospital-based cross-sectional survey in China. BMJ Open, 7: e014544. https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014544.

  • Yang, J. (2007). The one-child policy and school attendance in China. Comparative Education Review, 51(4), 471–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, K., & Bedford, O. (2003). A test of the dual filial piety model. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 6, 215–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoshikawa, H., Way, N., & Chen, X. (2012). Large-scale economic change and youth development: The case of urban China. New Directions in Youth Development, 39–55. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/yd.20027.

  • Yu, J., Cheah, C. S. L., Hart, C. H.,Sun, S. & Olsen, J, A. (2015). Confirming the multidimensionality of psychologically controlling parenting among Chinese-American mothers: Love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(3), 285–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, R., & Greenfield, P. M. (2015). Cultural evolution over the last 40 years in China: Using the Google Ngram Viewer to study implications of social and political change for cultural values. International Journal of Psychology, 50(1), 47–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., & Hesketh, T. (2016). The effects of China’s universal two-child policy. Lancet, 388, 1930–1938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., & Wang, Z. (2014). A policy analysis on challenges and opportunities of population/household aging in China. Journal of Population Aging, 7, 255–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J. (2017). The Evolution of China’s one-child policy and its effects on family outcomes. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(1), 141–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, W. W. (2000). Transforming China: Economic reform and its political implications. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong, H. (2014). The effect of sibling size on children’s health: A regression discontinuity design approach based on China’s one-child policy. China Economic Review, 31, 156–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, X., Whalley, J., & Zhao, X. L. (2014). Intergenerational transfer, human capital and long-term growth in China under the one-child policy. Economic Modelling, 40, 275–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, NY, USA

    Guangyu Tan

Authors
  1. Guangyu Tan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guangyu Tan .

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Tan, G. (2019). One Child, Only Hope? No More: The Evolution of China’s Population Control Policy and Its Impact on Parenting and Childcare. In: Investment in Early Childhood Education in a Globalized World. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60041-7_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60041-7_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60040-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60041-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation