PSU

1. Nancy Taban
Professor Nicholson
English Composition 110
December 2, 2018
Consequences of the One Child Law in China:
Imagine thinking about getting married and having children, and a family. But what if
your government controlled how many children you are allowed to bear or had gender
preferences regarding them? well, In 1970 China’s government enforced a policy which they
claimed to be a short-term grant and their goal was to make a smaller family culture. It was
aimed to solve the problem of an overpopulation issue in China. They implement that couples
can only bear one child; However,there were three exceptions to the policy: urban single-child
resident, minority ethnic group, and the policy were only enforced on the Han Chinese. In
addition, the main purpose for the policy was to ensure that China could support the population
through healthcare, education, housing, economic, and importantly food.’’ Today, over 90% of
all urban children and over 60% of rural children have no brothers or sisters‘’(Chan 74). The
Chinese government advised to make the one-child policy to be a good thing but; instead, it

2. Taban 1
developed a lot of issues. The one-child policy in China was intended to control the growth of
population but; instead, it led to unintended and negative outcomes, such as an aging population,
changes in the social structure, and gender equality.
The financial burden on the government was due to lower income, because of the rapidly
aging population.‘’If one accepts that the OCP did reduce the fertility rate, the population aging
is one of the significant consequences of the reduction in births over more than three decades’’
(Meng 3). With the fast-growing retirees, the Chinese pension system is facing a burden because
the elders are retiring and not enough younger workers available to replace the existing workers
and with this, it’s dragging the system into deficits. When, the law was implemented one of the
main reason was to control the population. But with that came consequences that have to be dealt
with three-five years later. In addition, three years ago 2016 China had a shortage in the
workforce and with an aging population the government revisited the law and allowed women to
have two children as long as that parent was the only child growing up. But even with the law
changed that doesn’t change what has been done by the government and with that there now
facing a demographic issue. ‘’Demographic time bombs, marked by a falling birth rate, and an
increase in the number of elderly people, can cause a country's economy to suffer (Kotecki).
Though China's economy boomed while the "One Child policy" was in effect, it now has too few

3. Taban 2
workers to support many senior citizens’’(Kotecki, 2018). Because of the law back in 1979’s all
those that were born after, when it came time to retire in their 60s in 2010 there was not new
enough workers to replace the elderly and with that came workforce shortage which panicked the
government to where they have decided to introduce a new law which allowed residents to have
a second child. Although the government has come up with server ways to embolden women to
bear more children, women’s interest in having children is falling.’’ According to a 2017 survey
by recruitment website Zhaopin, about two-thirds of working women with one child do not want
anymore children — a 17% increase from 2014 (Kotecki). The percentage of women who are not
interested in having any children at all rose from 21% in 2016 to 40% last year’’(Kotecki). ''They
claimed since they’ve allowed couples to have a second child, that it will raise three million per
year children until 2020 and that would add more than 30 million workers for labor by
2050''(Kotecki).
A society that is governed and ruled, when the one-child policy became implemented the
Chinese structure also changed. ‘’ Social structure can be defined as rule-governed
relationships-with all their rights and obligations-that hold members of a society together
(News). This includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including
politics’’ (Havilland 155). The Chinese one-child policy transformed the social structure as there

4. Taban 3
were a lot of consequences due to the law change such as marriage, post-marital residence
patterns, gender roles, and parental investment. As a matter of facts marriage has been different
definition but the main definition is the union of the spouses in the marriage, when people who
are becoming a union we usually celebrate their love,’’ a creation of ties between the two
intermarrying families, and specific rights and obligations for each spouse’’(Sudbeck 51).
However, the Ember and Ember define marriage as a ‘’socially approved sexual and economic
union, usually between woman and man’’(Sudbeck 51). Due, to the shortage of female in China
male are starting to seek females out of their age range. Because the Chinese society has only
accepted monogamy as the common form of marriage. And because there is a shortage of
females, China men value their women and with that results in fewer divorces.
Due, to the structural changes in marriage after the One Child Policy. The post-marital
residence pattern has also transformed after the implementing of the policy.’’ Before 1979 the
tradition for Chinese couples was to be patrilocal or residing neared the husband's family. But
after the policy was implemented there were more single children home, which means their
parents are going to depend on them only since they don’t have other siblings’’(Sudbeck 51).
Living near or with the parents in China is important as the children do take care of elderly
parents. I believe that is an exceedingly important aspect for foreign traditions to take care of

5. Taban 4
older parents, growing up we have learned to also respect and cherish thy parents and to never let
anyone else take care of your parents because that’s your responsibilities. Another is ‘’duolocal
residence which where the husband and wife do not live together, and their homes can near their
own parents’’(Hong 321). Personal can’t imagine being married to a person and having to live in
our homes, instead, of living together. ‘’Matri-patrilocal is also another one which is the couple
alternate their place of residence, which means sleeping every other day in your home. Lastly,
the most common residences are uxorilocal marriage. The husband will move in with the wife’s
family’’(Hong 321).
Because of the One Child Policy implementation as it has affected both marriage and
post-marital residence patterns, another social structure that has been changed is gender roles. In
China, women tend to invest more their lives to childbearing and because of that can’t prepare or
commit to career. When, the policy was first implemented it one of the reason was that women
can focus on their educations and careers before taking the role of a wife and mother. Since the
shortage of births arises in 2010, ‘’Chinese media have started to encourage women to have
children while still attending college’’(Koetse, 2017). It’s wrongful to have women bear children
early and marriage early, we all deserve to able to wait till we accomplish our education and start

6. Taban 5
a career path which in the end will help us feel more independent, mental and physical health.
Encouraging or controlling women to bear children will affect our future and independence.
Lastly, from the social structure changes is the parental investment. Which meant that
parents will invest more in a certain offspring. It’s stated that’’ high-status individual will invest
more in sons, and low-status individuals will invest more in daughters’’(Sudbeck 53). Parental
investment does not only apply to sex ratio at birth, but it includes the ‘’investment in offspring
after birth such as the development of child while young, education, and also society and
culturally development’’(Sudbeck 53). Since the gender preferences in China is sons, so if a
couple had a daughter first and then a son after they invest more in their sons but after the
implementation daughters born and had no brothers to compete with, therefore they receive all
the parental investments and because they're the only child, the parents tend to push daughter's
education and demand higher occupations.’’ Parental investment has also become something not
only for sons, due to parents that don’t have sons that they can invest in. They invest in their
daughters who have seen transform to be their own allocated for their individual
success’’(Sudbeck 55).
From, the time of 1950s to 1970s Chinese sex ratio reminded close. However, when the
one-child policy was advised the preferences for a male child was very important. People would

7. Taban 6
use technology such as ultrasound scan and induced abortion. It began to look spacious because
there was a major increase in the male ratio growth. ‘’The sex ratio imbalance has serious
consequences. And estimates that the number of prospective grooms will exceed the number of
prospective brides by more than 50% for at least three decades’’(Guilmoto 5). The Chinese
culture made having sons the goal. The sons are not viewed as only the laborer of the family, but
also because they help with the older generations. They are seen as the ones who will continue
the family line, also honor the family name.
Furthermore, couples made sure they had a son either by having more kids or marrying another
wife. And couples that could not produce their own offspring usually tended to adopt a nephew
with the permission of kinsman, because not having a child in China was viewed as a ‘’curse in
life’’(Chan 427). Everyone would like to have their first child to be a son because they carry the
family name. But in China there’s no choice, couples had to do whatever to a son especially after
the One Child implementation.’’ Family genograms which contain a list of all names of sons and
grandsons’’(Chan 427). Because, they stated female names are kept off because they will change
their surname of becoming a wife. It’s concluded that after the female offspring get married, they
belong to the husband and his family. When, the son gets married him and his wife are important
to the parents. Because they entrust in them for old age security, and they can deal with the

8. Taban 7
funeral arrangements when they die and that’s one of the reasons why families invest more in
male offspring. ‘’The Elderly Rights and Security Law states that adult children have financial
and emotional responsibility for their elderly parents’’(Zhang 95).
Not to mention, male preferences embossed among those living in the country areas
because sons are more valuable to help in the farming and hard labor to support the family.
‘’Approximately 70 percent of the population still lives in the country part of China’’(Chan 427),
which increases the traditional male preferences even more. In addition, the patriarchal system
which involves the men being the authority over women. ‘’Gender role was likewise very
uncompromising within China as the men were the main source of financial income in the
household and women did not commonly work outside the home’’(Chan 430). ‘’Also women
were likely in general labor or low pay jobs, giving them less opportunity for progression, likely
to be fired, and they did not receive equal benefits like medical insurance unlike the males
counterparts’’(Sudbeck 45). The unequal treatment they're receiving is unfair and similar to
women in American. In today’s world living in a society where they earn unequal rights such as,
reproductive choices having the right to abort if you need to, sexual harassment at work, equal
pay, domestic violence, and women health. As can be seen women all over the world are
challenged their rights and freedom.’’ Chinese women are still not as likely as males to hold

9. Taban 8
higher position; however, since 2001, five women have been promoted to high profile
position(Xinhua 1). Strides have been made towards a more equitable society among men and
women alike.
As seen above since the One Child Policy was implemented in the 1970s, the intention was
to control the population growth but those brought issues that were challenging to overcome;
Hence, the women made great strides towards gender equality like education freedom, career
choices, politically cooperation. As informed about the shortage in the workforce due to lack of
workers, and the marriage and post-marital residence patterns. And parental investment where
now it's no longer only for the sons because, as some parents only had daughters; In that case,
daughters have transformed a lot of old generation rules such as education freedom, parent
investments, career paths overall choosing their own success.
Works Cited
Banister, Judith. “Shortage of Girls in China Today.” SpringerLink, Springer,
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03032209.

10. Taban 9
Cameron a, Lisa, and Xin Meng. China’s One Child Policy. 2014,
users.monash.edu.au/~clisa/papers/Proof_Final.
CHEN, XUEFENG. “THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF CHINA’S ONE-CHILD POLICY.”
Http://Web.mit.edu/Lipoff/Www/Hapr/summer03_security/CHEN.pdf.
Greenhalgh, Susan. Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng’s China. 2008,
books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ybIwDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=china+one+
child+policy+labor+forces&ots=d05W0csKRJ&sig=7k7W5zw1IZBYIFX0zA3HJNL_GQY#v=
onepage&q=china%20one%20child%20policy%20labor%20forces&f=false
Kotecki, Peter. “China's 'One-Child' Policy Led to a Demographic Time Bomb, and Now the
Country Is Scrambling to Undo It.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 13 Aug. 2018,
wdtuicgj,.bm ww.businessinsider.com/china-demographic-time-bomb-one-child-limit-2018-8.
Li, H., Yi, lJ. & Zhang, J. Demography (2011) 48: 1535.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-011-0055-
“The Effect of China's One-Child Family Policy after 25 Years | NEJM.” New England Journal
of Medicine, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmhpr051833.

11. Taban 10
Sudbeck, Kristine, "The Effects of China's One-Child Policy: The Significance for Chinese
Women" (2012). Nebraska Anthropologist. 179.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nebanthro/179