What is China's one-child policy?

In China, there are more than 1.3 billion people living, working and building families. Many Westerners imagine that traditional Chinese families are made up of multiple generations living under one roof. Until a century ago, this was a fairly accurate family portrait. But it's no longer the norm.

These days, a typical Chinese family includes a married man and woman with one child, referred to as a core family. While there are sometimes modifications, including one or both sets of grandparents living with the family, the percentage of core families continues to rise above other types. This rise is no coincidence -- it's a direct reflection of the Chinese government's population control policies.

The National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC) is a state agency responsible for overseeing population control, reproductive health and family planning across China's provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. In this regard, the agency crafts policy and legislation, organizes and coordinates publicity and education, and directs and supervises reproductive science and technologies. The NPFPC limits the number of children Chinese couples may have, commonly known as the one-child policy.

This policy has been in the news recently, after a deadly 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Sichuan province in May 2008, killing an estimated 10,000 children and leaving thousands more severely injured, disabled or orphaned [source: New York Times]. Because of China's population control policies, most grieving families lost their only child. While the NPFPC is making policy exceptions for devastated families by allowing them to apply to have another child legally, such exceptions are rare.

Why would a country adopt such a policy? Let's look at the one-child policy's creation, its parameters and the criticisms against it.

Population and Family Planning in China

­It's estimated that there are currently more than 1.3 billion people in China and the population is growing at a rate of 0.6 percent -- by the year 2050, the population is expected to peak around 1.6 billion [source: CNN]. The fertility rate, which is the mean number of children born to one woman, hovers around 1.7 -- about 1.3 in urban areas and estimated just below 2.0 in rural areas. These numbers have dropped from the fertility rate of 2.9 children per woman thirty years ago and are significantly less than the average of six births per woman in 1970 [source: New England Journal of Medicine].

In comparison, other East Asian countries have seen fertility rates declining during the same time period. Japan and Singapore, for example, have some of the lowest fertility rates in the world, at 1.38 births per woman and 1.04 births per woman, respectively [source: New England Journal of Medicine]. Many European countries are also seeing birth rates decline and, in response, are doling out perks -- typically tax breaks and cash -- to encourage couples to increase the number of children they have.

The population reduction in China, though, is not accidental. During the 1970s, China began encouraging the ideas of "late, long, few" -- voluntary family planning by delaying marriage, having fewer children and increasing the number of years between children. In 1979, the government introduced its one-child policy, an aggressive effort to improve standards of living and the economy through population control. Although the government originally planned for a short-term program, the successful prevention of about 400 million births drove China to keep a revised version of the policy in place [source: CNN].

In accordance with the one-child policy, urban couples (about 36 percent of the population) are allowed to have only one child, with exceptions made only for couples who are of ethnic minority or who themselves are only children. In rural areas, couples may apply for legal permission to have a second child if their firstborn is a girl and are allowed three children if they are of an ethnic minority.

Children hold hands as they walk through the ancient city of Pingyao.

Frederick J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Under China's family planning laws, everyone is responsible for practicing family planning and contraceptive methods. Those who follow policy are offered rewards, such as a "Certificate of Honor for Single-Child Parents," loans, social assistance and other assistance depending on their socio-economic status. Couples who delay marriage and children may be eligible for rewards as well, such as longer honeymoon and maternity leaves of absence.

People who don't comply with the one-child policy are subject to penalties including fines (ranging from one-half the local average annual household income to up to ten times that level), confiscation of belongings and administrative sanctions for government employees. "Excess" children may be subjected to educational and health penalties.

To ensure compliance, the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC) offers free, universally accessible contraceptive methods. More than 87 percent of married women use contraception, compared to about one third of married women in other developing countries [source: New England Journal of Medicine]. The two most common methods among Chinese women are IUDs and female sterilization [source: National Population and Family Planning Commission of China]. In comparison, vasectomy, birth control pills and condom usage is low, used by less than 10 percent of the population [source: National Population and Family Planning Commission of China]. Reported abortion rates among Chinese women are lower than those among American women; 25 percent of Chinese women have had at least one abortion, whereas 43 percent of American women have undergone such procedure [source: New England Journal of Medicine].

Next, we'll look at the future goals of the NPFPC and the controversy surrounding these population policies.

Controversy and Criticism of the One-Child Policy

­China's one-child policy, as it is today, will remain in place at least until 2010 when it will again be reviewed by the government. In the meantime, China's demographic decline is resulting in a rising ratio of elderly to wage-earning adults. The smaller workforce comprised of only-children is challenged to support two sets of aging parents: China lacks adequate pension coverage and social welfare systems, leaving young workers to pick up the burden.

Over the decades, China has come under fire, accused of human and reproductive rights issues, female infanticide and unsafe practices. It's suggested that China's family planning policies force or coerce women into having abortions and sterilizations through social, economic and psychological pressures, discriminate against women, and encroach on the human right to reproduce.

Additionally, the one-child policy along with China's traditional preference for male heirs has contributed to the problem of gender imbalance. Girl infants are abandoned at a high rate. Female infanticide, the act of intentionally killing female infants and fetuses, is an ancient practice and an acknowledged problem in China. In 2005, an estimated 118 boys were born for every 100 girls, peaking at 130 boys for every 100 girls in some parts of the country. By comparison, the average boy-to-girl ratio in industrialized countries is roughly 104 to 107 boys for every 100 girls [source: Washington Post].

Amid the controversy, China continues to look ahead at ways to improve its population policies. The National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC) is planning programs and advances in the quality of both social and reproductive health services. Already in many of China's provinces, the requirement to obtain prior government permission to have a child, known as birth permits, has been lifted. The NPFPC also has plans to study state population development and social support programs to help rural families practice family planning ("fewer births, faster affluence").

To address the social stigma of having girls and the related sex-ratio imbalance, the NPFPC is launching a pilot project named "Girl Care." And in an effort to improve reproductive health, family planning workers will offer women more informed choices in contraception. China has also made it illegal to discriminate against women who give birth to baby girls and has prohibited sex-selective abortions after ultrasound. One publicity campaign in Hebei Province includes billboard advertisements reading, "There's no difference between having a girl or a boy -- girls can also continue the family line."

In working efforts with agencies around the world, the NPFPC is talking about shifting focus to provide higher quality, safer and more appropriate reproductive health and social services to women, adolescents, elderly and migrants.

For more information about China, contraception and adoption, visit our resources on the following page.

What is China's one-child policy?: Author's Note

There was something about this assignment that made people say the oddest things when I mentioned it to them. Some wondered if I'd end up on a special list, marked by the Chinese government for writing about the one-child rule. As if this policy were a secret. I wrote this piece concurrently with an assignment about how thousands of children in China were being named “Olympics” in honor of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The juxtaposition of these two filled my research with the history of the Chinese family, strict family planning and population control with scenes and stories of new families celebrating their country as well as creating good luck and a sense of individuality for these infants by giving them a specialized name.

Sources

• "Case Study: Female Infanticide." Gendercide Watch. http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html
• "Changes in Chinese Family." National Population and Family Planning Commission of China. 2001. http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/en/family.htm
• "China's One-Child Policy To Exempt Parents Whose Children Were Killed During Earthquake." Medical News Today. 2008. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/109064.php
• "China's Reverse Baby Bonus." China Population Development and Research Center. 2004. http://www.cpirc.org.cn/en/enews20040805.htm
• "China steps up 'one child' policy." BBC News. 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/941511.stm
• "China to keep one-child policy." CNN. 2008. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/10/china.onechild/
• Dewey, Arthur. "One-Child Policy in China." Testimony before the House International Relations Committee. U.S. Department of State. 2004. http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/39823.htm
• "Family Planning Law and China's Birth Control Situation." China Internet Information Center. 2002. http://www.china.org.cn/english/2002/Oct/46138.htm
• "Family Planning Policy Revised for Quake Areas." National Population and Family Planning Commission of China. 2008. http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/en/en2008-05/news20080527.htm
• "Gender Equity and Women's Empowerment." National Population and Family Planning Commission of China. 2001. http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/en/genderpro.htm
• "Has China's one-child policy worked?" BBC News. 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7000931.stm
• Hesketh T, Lu L, Xing ZW. "The Effect of China's One-Child Family Policy after 25 Years." The New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 353:1171-1176. 2005. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/11/1171
• Jacobs, Andrew. "One-Child Policy Lifted for Quake Victims' Parents." The New York Times. 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/world/asia/27child.html?hp
• "Main Achievements of Population and Family Planning Program of China." National Population and Family Planning Commission of China. http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/en/fpcn01-en.htm
• '"Missions of The National Population and Family Planning Commission." National Population and Family Planning Commission of China. 2005. http://www.npfpc.gov.cn/en/fpcn05-en.htm
• Olesen, Alexa. "China Sticking to One-Child Policy." The Washington Post. 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012300398.html
• "Population and Family Planning Law of the People's Republic of China (Order of the President No.63)." Orders of the President of the People's Republic of China. Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. 2002. http://english.gov.cn/laws/2005-10/11/content_75954.htm
• "The EU's baby blues." BBC News. 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4768644.stm
• "World Factbook: China." Central Intelligence Agency. 2008. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/ch.html

China's One-child Policy: Cheat Sheet

Stuff You Need to Know:

• A Chinese core family is considered to be a married man and woman with one child.
• In 1979, the Chinese government introduced the one-child policy, legislated population control in an effort to improve standards of living and the Chinese economy.
• The National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC) is the Chinese state agency responsible for overseeing population control, reproductive health and family planning across China's provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The NPFPC drafts policy and legislation, oversees reproductive science and technologies and coordinates public outreach.
• According to the one-child policy, urban couples are allowed to have one child while rural couples may apply for permission to have multiple children if their first born child is a girl. Exceptions may be made for ethnic minorities.

Now, test your knowledge with these quizzes!

• Travel the World: China
• Fact or Fiction: Is That Legal?
• Travel the World: World Geography
• Quiz: Origins of Popular Traditions

Check out these image galleries!

• Beijing Pictures
• Mount Everest Pictures
• Tibet Pictures
• Paradise Pictures
• Cultural Anthropology Pictures