Book contents
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Cambridge Studies in the History of the People’s Republic of China
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Building a Fitter Nation: Eugenics, Birth Control, and Abortion in Public Discourse, 1911–1949
- 2 Birth Control in Practice
- 3 Reaping the Fruits of Women’s Labor: Birth Control in the Early PRC, 1949–1958
- 4 “Birth Planning Has Many Benefits”: Weaving Family Planning into the Fabric of Everyday Life, 1959–1965
- 5 Controlling Sex and Reproduction across the Urban–Rural Divide, 1966–1979
- 6 The Rise and Demise of the One Child Policy, 1979–2015
- Epilogue: Birth Control and Abortion in the Longue Durée, 1911–2021
- Appendix: Interviews
- Glossary
- References
- Index
6 - The Rise and Demise of the One Child Policy, 1979–2015
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2023
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Cambridge Studies in the History of the People’s Republic of China
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Building a Fitter Nation: Eugenics, Birth Control, and Abortion in Public Discourse, 1911–1949
- 2 Birth Control in Practice
- 3 Reaping the Fruits of Women’s Labor: Birth Control in the Early PRC, 1949–1958
- 4 “Birth Planning Has Many Benefits”: Weaving Family Planning into the Fabric of Everyday Life, 1959–1965
- 5 Controlling Sex and Reproduction across the Urban–Rural Divide, 1966–1979
- 6 The Rise and Demise of the One Child Policy, 1979–2015
- Epilogue: Birth Control and Abortion in the Longue Durée, 1911–2021
- Appendix: Interviews
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 traces the One Child Policy’s lifespan from its introduction in 1979 until its replacement with the Two Child Policy in 2015. I show that the extent to which the One Child Policy was actually enforced and the ways in which it was received differed significantly in Shanghai, Tianjin, and Luoyang. For some couples, particularly those in more economically developed cities like Shanghai and Tianjin, the policy simply affirmed personal convictions that smaller families are more economical and allow children to have better educational opportunities. In smaller cities like Luoyang, however, policy violations were more common as family size – as well as the existence of a male heir – remained more important than the opportunities allocated to those children. This chapter also interrogates the renewed interest in eugenics among parents wishing to “optimize” the qualities of their one and only child, as well as the limited scale and scope of sex education, a trend that exacerbated the reliance on abortion as premarital birth control.
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- Information
- Reproductive Realities in Modern ChinaBirth Control and Abortion, 1911–2021, pp. 167 - 203Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023