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Fertility and Family in China

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From One Child to Two Children

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Abstract

Unlike Western societies, China shares totally different cultures and traditional practices. The differentials have also led to the variability of fertility and family life in China. The historical one-child policy took China to a unique path towards low fertility and with economic development, it generated drastic changes to China’s traditional pattern of family and society. Placed in a wider social and economic context, this chapter sets the scene for understanding the complexity of China’s fertility and family. Started with a detailed review of the history of birth control and family planning in China, this chapter presents the evolution of family planning from before the establishment of People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 to the latest two-child policy in 2016. Then it introduces the family dynamics throughout contemporary China and highlights the effect of family planning programme after 1979, as well as the emerging one-child generation. The following section addresses the gender perspectives, reviewing women’s status and gender inequality that are interconnected with childbearing desires.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The population data according to different kinds of references are subtly different, particularly for the data of early PRC from 1949 to 1960. Based on a careful selection and scrutiny, the series of Basic Data of China Population published by China Population Publishing House is chosen as the main source of population data used in the research for the following reasons: (1) the publisher belongs to an authoritative institution of demographic research in China with its current name of CPDRC, China Population and Development Research Centre; (2) the series of data books are consistent from year to year; (3) the volumes are published every 10 years since 1994 and include data of every year from 1949 till the latest version of 2010.

  2. 2.

    The legally marriageable age is 22 for males and 20 for females.

  3. 3.

    Illiterate and semiliterate population were related to population aged 7 and over. Figures for population with unknown educational attainment were not included.

  4. 4.

    This rate was based on population aged 12 and over. The same indicator of population aged 7 and over as the above footnote shows was also available and it was 31.88%. The reason for the similar figure is that the primary school age in China is exactly 7–12.

  5. 5.

    Province, municipality and autonomous region are at the same level as provincial administrative region in China’s administrative division.

  6. 6.

    Collective economy is a type of economy advocated by socialism. It exerts collective control over production and distribution. All production is owned by the working people collectively and the distribution is based on the amount of work (recorded as work points) done.

  7. 7.

    Household Responsibility Contract System adopted in agriculture means that households are held responsible for the profits and losses of an enterprise. Farmers as a relatively independent economic entity contract the collective land and other large-scale means of production and carry out production and management independently. Except for a small part of its operating income, which is paid to the collective and state taxes following the contract, all income is attributed to farmers.

  8. 8.

    Single-generation household means only one generation resident in a household, including single-person household, a couple without children and others. Two-generation household mainly includes couples living with children, or older parent(s) living with adult children, and another important source is the left-behind child(ren) living with their grandparents in rural areas, as their parents stay in cities for months to work for better earnings.

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    Shibei Ni

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Ni, S. (2023). Fertility and Family in China. In: From One Child to Two Children. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-96093-4_2

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