One child policy, China

Xu, Yuwei; Woodyer, Tara

Abstract

China’s one-child policy is renowned as the most aggressive and comprehensive population policy in the world. Introduced in China in 1979 at a time of high labour surplus, unemployment, and poverty, the policy sought to minimise the negative effects of population growth on China’s economic development. The policy allowed each Chinese couple to have only one child, although implementation of the policy varied locally, with exceptions for ethnic minorities, couples in rural areas (normally, whose first child is a girl), and couples with a severely disabled child. It allegedly decreased the population by 400 million people compared to predicted figures of population growth pre-implementation.

Citation

Xu, Y., & Woodyer, T. (2020). One child policy, China. In D. T. Cook (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529714388.n426

• Online Publication Date: Apr 28, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-05
• Deposit Date: Jul 30, 2023
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies
• ISBN: 9781473942929
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529714388.n426
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23594899
• Publisher URL: https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-children-and-childhood-studies/i12007.xml