The Effects of China鈥檚 One-Child Policy

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> </div> <article class="topic-content content mt-20"><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/199825-050-9D08DD1F/pacifier-baby-infant-plastic.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/199825-050-9D08DD1F/pacifier-baby-infant-plastic.jpg?w=600&q=60" alt="pacifier, baby, infant, plastic" data-width="1600" data-height="1067" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">漏 SabOlga/Shutterstock.com</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/one-child-policy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">one-child policy</a> was a program that was implemented nationwide by the Chinese government in 1980 in order to limit most Chinese families to one child each. The policy was enacted to address the growth rate of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/China" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">China</a>鈥檚 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/population-biology-and-anthropology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">population</a>, which the government viewed as being too high. In late 2015 the government announced that the one-child limit per family would end in 2016. Here are some of the major consequences of the policy.</p><span class="MOD1"></span><ul class="bullet"><li>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/fertility-rate" class="md-crosslink bullet" data-show-preview="true">fertility rate</a> decreased after 1980.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/birth-rate" class="md-crosslink bullet" data-show-preview="true">birth rate</a> decreased after 1980.</li><li>The overall rate of natural increase (the difference between the birth rate and the death rate) declined.</li><li>The Chinese government estimated that some 400 million births were prevented by the policy, although some analysts dispute this finding.</li><li>As sons were generally preferred over daughters, the overall sex ratio in China became skewed toward males. In 2016 there were 33.59 million more men than women.</li><li>Because of the preference for sons, there was a rise in the number of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/abortion-pregnancy" class="md-crosslink bullet" data-show-preview="true">abortions</a> of female fetuses.</li><li>The number of female babies killed, abandoned, or placed in orphanages increased as a result of the policy.</li><li>Incentives were offered to families complying with the policy, including financial perks and greater employment options.</li><li>Millions of Chinese parents had to endure strict enforcement methods of the policy, including forced sterilization and forced abortions.</li><li>In families that already had one child, the births of additional children鈥攊n violation of the one-child policy鈥攚ere often undocumented, leading to many problems later on for those children as they struggled to receive an education or find work.</li><li>Even after the one-child policy was rescinded, China鈥檚 birth and fertility rates remained low, leaving the country with a population that was aging too rapidly as well as a shrinking workforce.</li></ul><span class="AM-END-OF-ARTICLE am-inline"></span></article> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="cm-rightrail d-none d-md-block ad-rail"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col"> <div class="md-loading hidden display-4 font-weight-normal"></div> <div class="text-center my-20 mb-100"> <button class="md-infinite-load-next btn btn-blue" data-value="next-page">Load More</button> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-da-320 hidden-xs"> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Story","templateName":"COMPANION","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":11,"pageId":6486,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.38"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/story-page.js?v=3.130.38' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Story","pageSubtype":"COMPANION","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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