The Great Wall of Family Planning: China’s One-child Policy

When delving into China’s recent history and observing it in today’s context, it is impossible to ignore the effects of one of the most elaborate and wide-spread social experiments of all time. Following the Cultural Revolution’s economic stagnation and agonizing memories of famine, China formally introduced a policy in 1978 where all couples were restricted to one child, coined the ‘one-child policy.’ Deng Xiaoping, China’s leader from 1978 until 1989, claimed that unless the birth rate fell rapidly, “we will not be able to develop our economy and raise the living standards of our people.” China housed one quarter of the world’s population, all crammed into just 7% of the world’s arable land. In order to achieve the target population of 1.2 billion by 2000 , universal access to contraception and sterilization were necessary. In 1983 alone, China sterilized more than 20 million people with brutal efficiency. As a result, present-day China has a fertility rate below the needed replacement level: 1.6 children per woman.

The implementation of the one-child policy had marked effects on gender imbalance and upended traditional frameworks, causing distress and discomfort for those affected. Though a change was necessary in Chinese society, authorities caused far more sacrifice than gain in enforcing a process that would have occurred naturally.

The implications of the policy stretched far and wide, creating a notable gender imbalance, causing reproductive health issues, and changing the country’s demographics. Execution of the policy ranged across China, affecting couples in cities much more than rural families. By the year 2015, the number of men in China exceeded women by 33 million. Culturally, women were and sometimes still are viewed as inferior to men, primarily because of traditional ideas around income, ability and physical strength. Importance was placed on having a male child; sexually selective abortions, infanticide, and less effective medical treatment for girls made this possible. Due to the sheer imbalance between men and women today, society has seen an increase in crime, socially disruptive behavior, mental health issues and overall dissatisfaction. Many men struggle to find partners and are therefore unable to build families, an aspect central to Chinese culture. Kidnappings, trafficking for sex and marriage, and increased commercial sex work have also been on the rise. This has, in turn, increased the number of sexually transmitted disease cases and other related health issues.

Furthermore, the policy has posed problems for women’s reproductive and maternal health. Women who continued with an unapproved pregnancy often avoided seeking medical help, in fear of being punished, heavily fined or forced to abort the child. It was found that in rural Sichuan province in 1990, pregnant mothers who were illegally carrying a child had double the chance of maternal death than those with pregnancies approved by the government. Consequences for illegally giving birth without a birth permit ranged from relatively lenient to severe, but mostly affected those who weren’t wealthy. Typically, fines would be given, between five and ten times the family’s annual disposable income. If this could not be paid, personal belongings such as TVs, tables, bicycles and washing machines could be confiscated from the house. In very rare cases, a couple’s family members or relatives were arrested. Children that were born to a couple without a birth permit were denied an identity, societal rights and an education. This goes to show that the policy indirectly stripped many of their rights to universal healthcare. Additionally, the policy has toppled traditional societal frameworks wherein younger adults care for older relatives. This is considered an important custom in Chinese culture, emphasizing respect and gratitude to elders. Though this tradition is still alive, it is estimated that by 2050, one quarter of China’s population will be 65 or older, creating an imbalance in those who can and will care for the older population. This could create problems such as exceeding available professional resources or capacity within the healthcare system for the elderly. It could also create strain on many younger individuals or discontent for the elderly. Some also argue that the policy has created a generation full of single-children, producing anti-social and attention-seeking individuals. Though this could hold true in certain circumstances, the disparity between a single-child and one with siblings could be due to other factors, such as education, familial relations, values, and so on. There are too many influences to consider for this to be deemed absolutely true. All in all, though the policy seemed compelling at the time of its implementation, it has created extensive problems for the many generations affected by it.

Despite the ambitious goals of the strict Chinese policy, many critics have argued that China overreacted with a solution that did not yield many positive concrete results in the end. Prior to the policy, the government had already employed campaigns encouraging “later childbearing, greater space between children, and fewer children.” Between 1970 and 1979, this had already been quite effective, drastically decreasing the fertility rate from 5.9 to 2.9. Today, the government claims that the policy alone prevented 400 million births. This claim has been widely critiqued, since it was based on the false assumption that the fertility rate in China would have remained the same under the given time period. This has been disproven in other countries, as fertility rates typically fall with a rise in wealth and education. For instance, the policy was never applied in Hong Kong, where the natural fertility rate has fallen to just under one child per woman. Considering that this steep decline in fertility had already started to occur in the 1970s, it is possible that wealth and education had a greater effect on fertility rates in China than the policy itself. Another aspect that undercut the one-child policy’s effects was a new marriage law implemented by the government in 1980, lowering the legal age of marriage to 22 for men and 20 for women. This was put in place to reduce illegal marriage and related crimes, but naturally, encouraged family formation and thus, babies. Moreover, since families were able to have more children by paying off fines, increasing wealth in the country would have made the policy difficult to enforce. By lowering the barrier of economic disincentives and freedom of movement, it is likely that many families avoided punishment or being noticed by authorities. This would also have effects on the claimed number of births prevented. Thus, the drastic one-child policy is deemed ineffective by many, since it has not yielded many tangible results today.

It is clear that the one-child policy caused great individual pain and created flawed conditions in Chinese society, which is something that human rights activists and policymakers in China and abroad could learn from today. The policy proved that society’s long-term interests were held to a higher regard than individual rights. Today, its problems could be compared to those of the pro-life versus pro-choice debate in many countries. Some argue that abortion should be allowed because a mother has a direct and vital interest in her and her baby’s health, equipping her to make the best decision. When the state takes over and removes freedom of choice, both sides of the coin are not considered equally in the same way a mother would; instead, planned interests are vetted. Though the situations are slightly different, with abortion debates centered around the premise of religion instead of population control, the idea is the same. Instead of enforcing a strict pro-life policy, conservatives should try to change the cultural framework so that women have universal access to contraceptives, thus reducing the overall need for abortions in the first place. A similar cultural shift was already happening in China by the time the one-child policy was implemented, shown by the decline in fertility rates from 1970 to 1979, deeming it a harsh and extreme measure to propel something that would have taken its natural course.

Furthermore, greater wealth means that many women in China have more opportunities today. There are more female university graduates than ever before and more self-made billionaires compared to any other country. That being said, sexism in the workplace is rampant and the government is now launching measures to “encourage women to return to traditional cultural roles, embracing good family virtues.” This decision is one of the government’s responses to some of the aforementioned issues stemming from the one-child policy, including China’s fertility rate being below the needed replacement level. Improved maternity leave policies implemented in 2016 have backfired, making it harder for women to get hired. Most of the paid leave is borne by the employer, reducing incentives to hire women. If China encouraged more women to work and it reached full gender parity, its GDP could grow by $2.5 trillion. This current approach is almost erasing any positive effects that have occurred over the past decades, such as women’s inclusion in policy and the workforce. Thus, policymakers should learn from the detrimental side effects caused by the one-child policy and stop perpetuating disadvantages to women as a result of the aftermath. Essentially, though the effects of this modernization initiative that China embarked on in 1978 caused great harm and dissatisfaction, there is much to be learned by those in power.

Evidently, China is still struggling with the issues of gender imbalance, individual discontent and further strife caused by the government’s decision to enforce the one-child policy. As one of the world’s superpowers, it has many resources and individuals to juggle, giving policymakers an extraordinary task to take on. Chinese authorities and leaders should be taking measures to restore and place emphasis on individual rights, giving people greater freedom of choice and ultimately, unleashing their full potential. The one-child policy is a struggle that many faced and that will never be forgotten, rich with critical lessons for future generations to draw from.