Editing One-child policy (section)

== Enforcement ==

The one-child policy was managed by the National Population and Family Planning Commission under the central government since 1981. The [[Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China]] and the National Population and Family Planning Commission were made defunct and a new single agency, the [[National Health and Family Planning Commission]], took over national health and family planning policies in 2013. The agency reports to the State Council.

The policy was enforced at the provincial level through contraception, abortion, and fines that were imposed based on the income of the family and other factors. Population and Family Planning Commissions existed at every level of government to raise awareness and carry out registration and inspection work.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ty2hltdvs4C&dq=one+child+policy+provincial+abortion&pg=PA419 |title=Law in the People's Republic of China: Commentary, Readings, and Materials |date=January 1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9780792300557}}</ref><ref name="dewey">{{Cite web |last=Dewey |first=Arthur E. |date=16 December 2004 |title=One-Child Policy in China |url=http://statelists.state.gov/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0412c&L=dossdo&P=401 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721062432/http://statelists.state.gov/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0412c&L=dossdo&P=401 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |publisher=Senior State Department}}</ref> The fine was a so-called "social maintenance fee", the punishment for the families who had more than one child. According to the policy, families who violated the law created a burden on society. Therefore, social maintenance fees were to be used for the operation of the government.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Quanbao |last2=Liu |first2=Yixiao |date=2016 |title=Low fertility and concurrent birth control policy in China |journal=The History of the Family |language=en |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=551–577 |doi=10.1080/1081602X.2016.1213179 |issn=1081-602X |s2cid=157905310 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The 2019 documentary ''[[One Child Nation]]'' portrayed the experiences of enforcement, primarily focusing on rural China.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ryan |first=Patrick |date=5 May 2023 |title=Film Review: One Child Nation |language=en |work=SSRN Working Paper |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4428151 |access-date=5 May 2023 |ssrn=4428151}}</ref> Enforcement of the one-child policy was more uneven in rural China.<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|page=187}}

=== Financial ===

The Family Planning Policy was enforced through a financial penalty in the form of the "social child-raising fee", sometimes called a "family planning fine" in the West, which was collected as a fraction of either the annual disposable income of city dwellers or of the annual cash income of peasants, in the year of the child's birth.<ref>[[commons:File:Sichuan social fostering fee schedule.jpg#file|Summary of Family Planning notice on how FP fines are collected]]</ref> For instance, in Guangdong, the fee was between three and six annual incomes for incomes below the district's per capita income, plus one to two times the annual income exceeding the average. Families were required to pay the fine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heavy Fine for Violators of One-Child Policy |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/224913.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513005350/http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/224913.htm |archive-date=13 May 2013 |access-date=4 October 2013 |place=China}}</ref>

The one-child policy was a tool for China to not only address overpopulation, but to also address [[poverty alleviation]] and increase [[social mobility]] by consolidating the combined inherited wealth of the two previous generations into the investment and success of one child instead of having these resources spread thinly across multiple children.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Choukhmane |first1=Taha |last2=Coeurdacier |last3=Jin |first3=Keyu |first2=Nicolas |title=The One-Child Policy and Household Saving |date=24 December 2021 |url=https://tahachoukhmane.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CCJ2021_OneChildPolicy.pdf |website=tahachoukhmane.com}}</ref> This theoretically allowed for a "demographic dividend" to be realized, increasing economic growth and increasing gross national income per capita.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hesketh |first1=Therese |last2=Zhou |first2=Xudong |last3=Wang |first3=Yun |date=2015-12-22 |title=The End of the One-Child Policy: Lasting Implications for China |journal=JAMA |language=en |volume=314 |issue=24 |pages=2619–2620 |doi=10.1001/jama.2015.16279 |pmid=26545258 |issn=0098-7484}}</ref>

If the family was not able to pay the "social child-raising fee", then their child would not be able to obtain a {{Lang|zh-latn|[[hukou]]}}, a legal registration document that was required in order to marry, attend state-funded schools, or to receive health care. Many who were unable to pay the fee never attempted to obtain their {{Lang|zh|hukou}} for fear that the government would force extra fees upon them. Although some provinces had declared that payment of the "social child-raising fee" was not required to obtain a {{Lang|zh|hukou}}, most provinces still required families to pay retroactive fines after registration.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zhao |first=Kiki |date=8 February 2016 |title=Chinese Who Violated One-Child Policy Remain Wary of Relaxed Rules |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/world/asia/china-one-child-policy-hukou.html |access-date=8 October 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Contraception and sterilization ===
[[File:Futu-north-0057.jpg|thumb|Propaganda slogan on a building at [[Yangxin County, Hubei]], reading "an [[Copper IUD|IUD]] after the first child, [[tubal ligation]] after the second"]]

Since the 1970s, the [[Intrauterine device|intrauterine device (IUD)]] has been one of the most widely promoted and practiced forms of contraception. It was the primary alternative to [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilization]]. As directed, the IUD was medically implanted into women in their child-bearing years to prevent pregnancies, thus out of order births. In the 1980s, women either had to receive an IUD after giving birth to their first child, or the husband would have to undergo a vasectomy.<ref name="Cai2018">{{Cite news |last=Cai |first=Tiwen |date=2018 |title=Left in the Dark on Contraception, Young Chinese Seek Abortions |agency=Sixth Tone |url=http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002188/left-in-the-dark-on-contraception%2C-young-chinese-seek-abortions}}</ref> Between 1980 and 2014, 324 million Chinese women received IUDs and 108 million were sterilized.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Greenhalgh |first=Susan |title=Governing China's Population, From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics |date=2005 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804748797 |pages=257}}</ref> By law, the IUD was placed four months after the delivery of the first child. It was only medically removed after permission to conceive is granted by the community based upon various laws and policies on childbirth quotas.<ref name="Johnson2016">{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Kay Anne |title=China's Hidden Children, Abandonment, Adoption, and the Human Cost of the One-Child Policy. |date=2016 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]}}</ref> Despite this, some [[Midwife|midwives]] illegally removed the device from their patients.<ref name="White1994">{{Cite journal |last=White |first=Tyrene |date=1994 |title=Two Kinds of Production: The Evolution of China's Family Planning Policy in the 1980s |journal=[[Population and Development Review]] |volume=20 |pages=137–158 |doi=10.2307/2807944 |jstor=2807944}}</ref> This led to IUD inspections, ensuring that the IUD remained in place.<ref name="Huang1989">{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Shu-min |title=The Spiral Road, Change in a Chinese Village through the Eyes of a Communist Party Leader |date=1989 |publisher=Westview Press |location=[[Iowa State University]]}}</ref> Permanent legal removal of IUDs happens once a woman reaches [[menopause]].<ref name="Jiang2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Quanbao |last2=Liu |first2=Yixiao |date=2016 |title=Low fertility and concurrent birth control policy in China |journal=The History of the Family |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=551–577 |doi=10.1080/1081602X.2016.1213179 |via=[[Taylor & Francis]] |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2016 as means of loosening restrictions and abolishing the one-child policy, the Chinese government now covers the price of IUD removals.<ref name="Sivelle2005">{{Cite news |last=Sivelle |first=Kristina |date=2005 |title=Chinese women and their contraceptive choices |agency=China Daily |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-01/18/content_410003.htm.}}</ref>

The most widely used alternative to IUDs has been sterilization. As the leading form of contraception in China, sterilization has included both [[tubal ligation]] and [[vasectomy]].<ref name="Kallgren2007">{{Cite journal |last=Kallgren |first=Joice K. |date=2007 |title=Review of China's Longest Campaign: Birth Planning in the People's Republic, 1949-2005 by Tyrene White |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20192745 |journal=The China Quarterly |issue=189 |pages=190–192 |doi=10.1017/S0305741006000981 |jstor=20192745 |s2cid=153652778}}</ref> Starting in the early 1970s, massive sterilization campaigns swept across the country. Urban and rural birth planning and [[family planning]] services situated themselves in every community.<ref name="Kallgren2007" /> Cash payments or other material rewards and fines acted as incentives, increasing the number of participants.<ref name="Johnson2016" /> Socially willing participants were considered role models in the community.<ref name="White1994" /> In 1983 mandatory sterilization occurred after the birth of the second or third child.<ref name="White2006">{{Cite book |last=White |first=Tyrene |title=China's Longest Campaign: Birth Planning in the People's Republic," Supplement: The New Politics of Population: conflict and Consensus in Family Planning, 1949-2005 |date=2006 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-4405-0}}</ref> As the restrictions tightened a few years later, if a woman gave birth to two children, legally she had to be sterilized. Alternatively, in some cases her husband could be sterilized in her place. In other cases, sterilization of surplus children occurred.<ref name="InformationPCR">{{Cite web |last=Information Office of the State council of the People's Republic of China |title=Family Planning in China |url=http://www.china-un.ch/eng/bjzl/t176938.htm. |website=Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China To the United Nations Office At Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland (1995)}}</ref>

In the early years of the sterilization campaigns, abortion was a method of birth control highly encouraged by family planning.<ref name="Jiang2016" /> With 55 percent of abortion recipients as repeat customers and the procedure easily accessible,<ref name="Jiang2016" /> women had chosen to abort and had been forced to abort because of laws, social pressure, discovery of secret pregnancy, and community birth quotas.<ref name="Johnson2016" /> In 1995, the [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) warned against abortion as a means of family planning and as a contraceptive. Should an abortion be required, the woman was to have a safe procedure done by a registered physician.<ref name="InformationPCR" /> Despite this, some women even in the 2000s chose or were encouraged to use traditional abortive products such as [[blister beetle]]s, also known as ''[[Mylabris]]''.<ref name="Sommer2010">{{Cite journal |last=Sommer |first=Matthew H |date=2010 |title=Abortion in Late Imperial China: Routine Birth Control or Crisis Intervention? |journal=[[Late Imperial China (journal)|Late Imperial China]] |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=97–165 |doi=10.1353/late.2004.0009 |pmid=21328808}}</ref> Women would ingest the toxins orally or by means of douching with the hopes of inducing abortion. An overdose could lead to death of the mother and [[fetus]].<ref name="Sommer2010" /> The efficacy of these products has been very low with a high mortality rate. The medical community and PRC have warned against use of these traditional methods.<ref name="Jiang2016" />

The priorities of individual families also played a role in the birth rate. Families debated the social and economic stability of the household prior to conception. Some families chose to follow the single-child limit due to varying social and economic factors such as marrying later, spacing out children, the cost of raising a child, the fines for having multiple children, birth control policies, and the accessibility of contraceptives.<ref name="Jiang2016" /> In addition, those who violated the one-child policy could lose their jobs, their titles, a portion of medical insurance, and opportunities for higher education for the second child; they could also face sterilization and the labeling of the second child as a "black child".<ref name="Johnson2016" /> All of the variables played an important role in couples' decisions on when to conceive, placing their social and economic situation above the desire to bear additional children.

Other examples of contraceptives have included the [[Morning-After pill|morning-after pill]], [[birth control pills]], and [[condom]]s. The morning-after pill has made up 70 percent of oral contraceptives in the Chinese market.<ref name="Cai2018" /> Only seven percent of Chinese women had shared that they use the pill and condom in combination.<ref name="Sivelle2005" /> The Chinese government promoted the use of IUDs and sterilization over the combined pill and condom because PRC authorities questioned the voluntary commitment of the public.<ref name="Huang1989" /> The Chinese government has distributed free condoms at medical clinics and health centers to adults with proof that they are 18 years of age or older. Additionally, the rate{{Clarify|date=June 2023}} and highly debated [[sexual education]] have increased awareness of sex and contraceptive measures among groups of China's young population, further lowering the birth rate.<ref name="Cai2018" />

=== Evasion ===

Some couples paid fines to have a second or third child, and others would attempt to circumvent the policy by having non-pregnant friends take the mandatory blood tests.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 February 2020 |title=This is how thousands of Chinese women defied the one-child policy to give birth twice |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-16/women-defied-chinas-one-child-policy-to-give-birth-twice/11869478}}</ref>

=== Propaganda ===
The National Family Planning committee developed the slogan {{Lang|zh-latn|Wan Xi Shao}} ('later, longer, and fewer'), which was first enacted in 1973 and was in effect until 1979.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nie |first1=Yilin |last2=Wyman |first2=Robert J. |date=2005 |title=The One-Child Policy in Shanghai: Acceptance and Internalization |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3401363 |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=31 |issue=2 |page=315 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2005.00067.x |issn=0098-7921 |jstor=3401363}}</ref> This national idea encouraged later marriages and having fewer children. However, this policy was not effective at enforcing the developing ideal of having fewer children since it was such a new concept that had never been seen in other regions of the world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nie |first1=Yilin |last2=Wyman |first2=Robert J. |date=2005 |title=The One-Child Policy in Shanghai: Acceptance and Internalization |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3401363 |journal=Population and Development Review |volume=31 |issue=2 |page=319 |doi=10.1111/j.1728-4457.2005.00067.x |issn=0098-7921 |jstor=3401363}}</ref> The various problems that arose during its introduction were slowly addressed and it became progressively more targeted to corner women into limited control over their own bodies.

The {{Lang|zh-latn|Wan Xi Shao}} slogan emerged during the 1970s as a response to China's rapid population growth, which was viewed as a major obstacle to the country's economic and social development.<ref name="Fong2016">{{Cite book |last=Fong |first=Mei |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/898052629 |title=One child: the story of China's most radical experiment |date=2016 |publisher=Mariner Books |isbn=978-0-544-27539-3 |location=Boston |oclc=898052629}}</ref> This slogan encapsulated three key principles: marrying later ({{Lang|zh-latn|wan}}, {{Lang|zh|晚}}), spacing pregnancies farther apart ({{Lang|zh-latn|xi}}, {{Lang|zh|稀}}), and having fewer children ({{Lang|zh-latn|shao}}, {{Lang|zh|少}})<ref name="auto4">{{Cite journal |last1=Whyte |first1=Martin King |last2=Feng |first2=Wang |last3=Cai |first3=Yong |date=2015 |title=Challenging Myths About China's One-Child Policy |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681664 |journal=The China Journal |volume=74 |pages=144–159 |doi=10.1086/681664 |issn=1324-9347 |pmc=6701844 |pmid=31431804}}</ref> and was emblematic of China's national campaign of mandatory birth planning. The Chinese government aimed to reduce population growth by promoting guidelines for birth control and family planning. The government believed that having fewer children and spacing births more adequately would allow families to allocate more resources per child, resulting in better health and education outcomes for children. The policy aimed to achieve this by allowing parents more time and resources to invest in each child's health and education, as they would have fewer children to care for.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peng |first=Xizhe |date=2011-07-29 |title=China's Demographic History and Future Challenges |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1209396 |journal=Science |volume=333 |issue=6042 |pages=581–587 |bibcode=2011Sci...333..581P |doi=10.1126/science.1209396 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=21798939 |s2cid=206535738}}</ref>

The "later, longer, fewer" campaign was later replaced by the one-child policy.<ref name="Fong2016" /> According to Whyte and colleagues, many of the coercive techniques that became notorious after the one-child policy was launched actually date from this campaign in the 1970s.<ref name="auto4" />

During the campaign, the state bureaucracy was in charge of enforcing birth control and oversaw birth-planning workers in every village, urban work unit, and neighborhood. These workers kept detailed records on women of child-bearing age, including past births, contraceptive usage, and menstrual cycles, often becoming "menstrual monitors" to detect out-of-quota pregnancies. In some factories, there were quotas for reproduction, and women who did not receive a birth allotment were not supposed to get pregnant.<ref name="auto4" />

Women who became pregnant without permission were harassed to get an abortion, with pressure also put on their husbands and other family members. Families were threatened that, if they persisted in having an over-quota birth, the baby would be denied household registration, which would mean denial of ration coupons, schooling, and other essential benefits that depended upon registration. In rural areas, women who gave birth to a third child were pressured to get sterilized or have IUDs inserted, while urban women were trusted to continue using effective contraception until they were no longer fertile.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Whyte |first1=Martin King |last2=Feng |first2=Wang |last3=Cai |first3=Yong |date=2015 |title=Challenging Myths About China's One-Child Policy |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681664 |journal=China Journal |volume=74 |pages=144–159 |doi=10.1086/681664 |issn=1324-9347 |pmc=6701844 |pmid=31431804}}</ref>

Official statistics show that birth control operations, including abortions, IUD insertions, and sterilizations, increased sharply during the 1970s in association with the campaign to enforce birth limits. These drastic increases in birth-control operations suggest that highly coercive birth planning enforcement was already prevalent in both rural and urban areas, preceding the launch of the one-child policy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tien |first=H. Yuan |date=1980 |title=Wan, Xi, Shao: How China Meets Its Population Problem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2947873 |journal=International Family Planning Perspectives |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=65–70 |doi=10.2307/2947873 |issn=0190-3187 |jstor=2947873}}</ref> However, during the 1970s, the Chinese government was still concerned that the {{Lang|zh-latn|Wan Xi Shao}} policy would not reduce the growing population sufficiently. They felt the population would grow too fast to be supported, and a one-child policy for all families was introduced in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Welcome Demise of China's One-Child Policy |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/11/the-welcome-demise-of-chinas-one-child-policy/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Many of the tactics used by the government were reflected in the day-to-day life of the average Chinese citizen. Since the Chinese government could not outright force its inhabitants to follow strict policy orders, the government developed strategies to encourage and promote individuals to take on this responsibility themselves. A common technique was placing an emphasis on family bonds and how having one child per family would increase emotional ties in parent-offspring relationships as well as extended family giving all their attention to fewer children.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=251 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref> While the message of population reduction was urgent and required immediate attention, it was more important for the government to stop conception and new pregnancies. The Family Planning Commission spread propaganda by placing pictures and images on everyday items.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=242 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref> Aside from signs and posters on billboards, advertisements were placed on postage stamps, milk cartons, food products and many other household items to promote the benefits of having one child.

Propaganda took many forms throughout the one-child policy era and was able to target a wide range of age demographics. Children born in this time period spent most of their lives being exposed to the new expectations placed on them by society. Educational programs were also encouraged to promote one-child policy expectations. Many young teenagers were required to read {{Lang|zh-latn|Renkou Jiayu}} (1981), which emphasized the importance of family planning and birth control measures that would ensure the stability of the nation.<ref name="Lewis1987">{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=243 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref> Younger generations became the main target audience for much of the propaganda as the one-child policy continued, since they made up a large portion of the population that would contribute to continued growth if no policy was put in place.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Norah L. |date=1987 |title=Implementing Social Change: China and the One Child Policy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41420898 |journal=International Review of Modern Sociology |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=237–255 |issn=0973-2047 |jstor=41420898}}</ref>

The one-child campaign extensively used propaganda posters. The aim of the posters was to promote the policy, encourage compliance, and emphasize the benefits of having fewer children. Many of the posters were educational in nature, paying attention to reproduction, sexuality, and conception. They were produced by various government departments, ranging from ministries of health to local population policy centers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population Policy |url=https://chineseposters.net/themes/population-policy |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Chineseposters.net |language=en}}</ref>

To convey the idea that couples should only have one child, the one-child campaign utilized traditional visual elements from {{Lang|zh-latn|nianhua}} ([[New Year picture|New Year prints]]) that were popular among the people. Traditionally, these prints employ visual symbols to convey good wishes for the coming new year. In the prints, young children often have been portrayed with pink, chubby cheeks to symbolize the success of family reproduction and a hopeful future.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Andrea |last=Immel |date=24 January 2020 |title=Ride an Elephant and a Happy Lunar New Year |url=https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2020/01/ride-an-elephant-and-a-happy-lunar-new-year/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=Cotsen Children's Library |language=en-US}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2023}} Even without slogans, these pictures were effective in establishing a link between luck and prosperity associated with the New Year and the one-child policy. Traditional elements like chubby, healthy-looking babies resonated with people – making them believe that compliance with the policy would yield luck, good fortune, and healthy offspring. As the one-child campaign progressed, the policy was linked to national development and wealth. It was considered directly linked to the success of the policy of modernization and reform.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite journal |last1=Bu |first1=Liping |last2=Fee |first2=Elizabeth |date=2012 |title=Family Planning and Economic Development in CHINA |journal=American Journal of Public Health |language=en |volume=102 |issue=10 |pages=1858–1859 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2012.300731 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=3490652 |pmid=22897553}}</ref>

By promoting the one-child policy on a daily basis, the government was able to convince the people that it was their duty to fulfill this nationalistic pride. Once the idea and initial steps of this policy were introduced into society, it was regulated by local policy enforcers until finally becoming an internal obligation the community accepted for the greater good of maintaining a nation. In many cases, health centers encouraged the idea of reducing the risks of pregnancy by distributing various forms of contraceptives at no cost, which made protected sex more common than unprotected sex.<ref name="Lewis1987" />

=== Material incentives ===
Couples who only had one child received healthcare subsidies ({{Lang|zh-latn|baojian fei}}), retirement funds, and larger grain allowances.<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|page=186}}

===Relaxation===
In 2013, Deputy Director Wang Peian of the [[National Health and Family Planning Commission]] said that "China's population will not grow substantially in the short term."<ref>{{Citation |last=Burkitt |first=Laurie |title=China to Move Slowly on One-Child Law Reform |date=17 November 2013 |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303755504579203853048322532 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203191355/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303755504579203853048322532 |url-status=live |edition=online |archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref> A survey by the commission found that only about half of eligible couples wish to have two children, mostly because of the cost of living impact of a second child.<ref name="nyt-20140225">{{Cite news |last=Levin |first=Dan |date=25 February 2014 |title=Many in China Can Now Have a Second Child, but Say No |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/asia/many-couples-in-china-will-pass-on-a-new-chance-for-a-second-child.html |url-status=live |access-date=26 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226120847/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/asia/many-couples-in-china-will-pass-on-a-new-chance-for-a-second-child.html |archive-date=26 February 2014}}</ref>

In November 2013, following the Third Plenum of the [[18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP), China announced the decision to relax the one-child policy. Under the new policy, families could have two children if one parent, rather than both parents, was an only child.<ref>{{Citation |title=China reforms: One-child policy to be relaxed |date=15 November 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24957303 |access-date=5 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119040239/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24957303 |url-status=live |place=[[United Kingdom|UK]] |publisher=BBC |archive-date=19 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=27 January 2015 |title=Why is China relaxing its one-child policy? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/12/economist-explains-8 |url-status=live |access-date=27 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211211450/http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/12/economist-explains-8 |archive-date=11 February 2015}}</ref> This mainly applied to urban couples, since there were very few rural, only children due to long-standing exceptions to the policy for rural couples.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xinhua Insight: Heated discussion over loosening of one-child policy |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-11/16/c_132893697_2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121174831/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-11/16/c_132893697_2.htm |archive-date=21 January 2015 |website=Xinhua net}}</ref> Zhejiang, one of the most affluent provinces, became the first area to implement this "relaxed policy" in January 2014,<ref name="reu">{{Cite news |date=17 January 2014 |title=Eastern Chinese province first to ease one-child policy |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-onechild-idUSBREA0G0J220140117 |url-status=live |access-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014112550/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/17/us-china-onechild-idUSBREA0G0J220140117 |archive-date=14 October 2015}}</ref> and 29 out of the 31 provinces had implemented it by July 2014,<ref name=cd/> with the exceptions of Xinjiang and Tibet. Under this policy, approximately 11{{nbsp}}million couples in China were allowed to have a second child; however, only "nearly one million" couples applied to have a second child in 2014,<ref>{{Cite web |title=1 mln Chinese couples apply to have second child |url=http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-01/12/content_19297390.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123195029/http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-01/12/content_19297390.htm |archive-date=23 January 2015 |access-date=14 January 2015 |website=China daily}}</ref> less than half the expected number of 2 million per year.<ref name="cd">{{Citation |title=China daily |date=Feb 2014 |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-07/10/content_17706811.htm |access-date=14 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123200526/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-07/10/content_17706811.htm |url-status=live |archive-date=23 January 2015}}</ref> By May 2014, 241,000 out of 271,000 applications had been approved. Officials of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission claimed that this outcome was expected, and that the "second-child policy" would continue progressing with a good start.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Yamei |date=2014 |title=11 million couples qualify for a second child |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2014-07/10/c_133475240.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914124938/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2014-07/10/c_133475240.htm |archive-date=14 September 2014 |access-date=10 December 2014 |website=Xinhua News}}</ref>

===Abolition===
{{see also|Two-child policy#China}}
In October 2015, the Chinese news agency [[Xinhua]]<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Shen |first=Xinhua |title=UQ eSpace |date=2018 |publisher=University of Queensland Library |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.14264/c2861a6 |doi=10.14264/c2861a6}}</ref> announced the government's plans to abolish the one-child policy, now allowing all families to have [[Two-child policy in China|two children]], citing a communiqué issued by the CCP "to improve the balanced development of population"{{spaced ndash}}an apparent reference to the country's female-to-male [[human sex ratio|sex ratio]]{{spaced ndash}}and to deal with an aging population.<ref name="cbc.ca">{{Citation |title=Five things to know about China's one-child policy |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/5-things-to-know-about-china-s-1-child-policy-1.3294335 |access-date=31 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031115825/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/5-things-to-know-about-china-s-1-child-policy-1.3294335 |url-status=live |place=[[Canada]] |publisher=[[CBC News]] |archive-date=31 October 2015}}</ref><ref>News coverage:
* {{cite news |date=29 October 2015 |title=China to end one-child policy and allow two |newspaper=[[BBC]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34665539 |url-status=live |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528124652/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34665539 |archive-date=28 May 2018}}
* {{Cite web |date=29 October 2015 |title=China to allow two children for all couples |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-10/29/c_134763507.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031173313/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-10/29/c_134763507.htm |archive-date=31 October 2015 |access-date=29 October 2015 |publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency|Xinhua]]}}
* {{cite news |last1=Phillips |first1=Tom |date=29 October 2015 |title=China ends one-child policy after 35 years |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/china-abandons-one-child-policy |url-status=live |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201021629/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/29/china-abandons-one-child-policy |archive-date=1 December 2016}}
* {{cite news |last1=Sudworth |first1=John |date=30 October 2015 |title=The 'model' example of China's one child policy |newspaper=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-34664442 |url-status=live |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716032138/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-34664442 |archive-date=16 July 2018}}</ref> The new law took effect on 1 January 2016 after it was passed in the [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]] on 27 December 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 December 2015 |title=Top legislature amends law to allow all couples to have two children |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/27/c_134955448.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010151510/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/27/c_134955448.htm |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=27 December 2015 |publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 December 2015 |title=China formally abolishes decades-old one-child policy |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/china-formally-abolishes-decades-old-one-child-policy-1535006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828224908/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/china-formally-abolishes-decades-old-one-child-policy-1535006 |archive-date=28 August 2019 |access-date=27 December 2015 |website=[[International Business Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 December 2015 |title=China officially ends one-child policy, signing into law bill allowing married couples to have two children |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-27/chinas-one-child-policy-officially-scrapped/7055834 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227234443/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-27/chinas-one-child-policy-officially-scrapped/7055834 |archive-date=27 February 2019 |access-date=29 December 2019 |publisher=[[ABC Online]]}}</ref>

The rationale for the abolition was summarized by former ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reporter [[Mei Fong]]: "The reason China is doing this right now is because they have too many men, too many old people, and too few young people. They have this huge crushing demographic crisis as a result of the one-child policy. And if people don't start having more children, they're going to have a vastly diminished workforce to support a huge aging population."<ref>{{Citation |last=Fong |first=Mei |title=China one-child policy |date=15 October 2015 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151030-china-one-child-policy-mei-fong/ |work=National Geographic |access-date=31 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031140836/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151030-china-one-child-policy-mei-fong/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2015 |author-link=Mei Fong}}</ref> China's ratio is about five working adults to one retiree; the huge retiree community must be supported, and that will dampen future growth, according to Fong.
Since the citizens of China are living longer and having fewer children, the growth of the population imbalance is expected to continue. A [[United Nations]] projection forecast that "China will lose 67{{nbsp}}million working-age people by 2030, while simultaneously doubling the number of elderly. That could put immense pressure on the economy and government resources."<ref name="cbc.ca" /> The longer-term outlook is also pessimistic, based on an estimate by the [[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]], revealed by Cai Fang, deputy director. "By 2050, one-third of the country will be aged 60 years or older, and there will be fewer workers supporting each retired person."<ref name="chinadaily.com.cn">{{Citation |title=China daily |date=Dec 2014 |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-12/16/content_19093408.htm |access-date=1 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927031359/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-12/16/content_19093408.htm |url-status=live |archive-date=27 September 2015}}</ref>

Although many critics of China's reproductive restrictions approved of the policy's abolition, [[Amnesty International]] said that the move to the two-child policy would not end [[forced sterilizations]], [[forced abortion]]s, or government control over birth permits.<ref>{{Cite web |last=[[Agence France-Presse]] |date=29 October 2015 |title=China ends one-child policy — but critics warn new two-child policy won't end forced abortions |url=http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/china-ends-one-child-policy-but-critics-warn-new-two-child-policy-wont-end-forced-abortions/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030152646/http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/china-ends-one-child-policy-but-critics-warn-new-two-child-policy-wont-end-forced-abortions/ |archive-date=30 October 2015 |access-date=29 October 2015 |website=[[The Raw Story]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 October 2015 |title=China: Reform of one-child policy not enough |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/china-one-child-reform/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040039/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/china-one-child-reform/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=30 November 2017 |website=www.amnesty.org}}</ref> Others had also stated that the abolition was not a sign of the relaxation of authoritarian control in China. A reporter for [[CNN]] said, "It was not a sign that the party will suddenly start respecting personal freedoms more than it has in the past. No, this is a case of the party adjusting policy to conditions. [...] The new policy, raising the limit to two children per couple, preserves the state's role."<ref name="cnn.com">{{Citation |last=Ghitis |title=China: one-child policy |date=29 October 2015 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/29/opinions/ghitis-china-one-child-policy/ |access-date=1 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102031758/http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/29/opinions/ghitis-china-one-child-policy |url-status=live |publisher=CNN |archive-date=2 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 2015 |title=China's one-child calamity |url=http://www.ejinsight.com/20151105-china-one-child-calamity/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106090308/http://www.ejinsight.com/20151105-china-one-child-calamity/ |archive-date=6 November 2015 |access-date=6 November 2015}}</ref>

The abolition having a significant benefit was uncertain, as a [[CBC News]] analysis indicated: "Repealing the one-child policy may not spur a huge baby boom, however, in part because fertility rates are believed to be declining even without the policy's enforcement. Previous easings of the one-child policy have spurred fewer births than expected, and many people among China's younger generations see smaller family sizes as ideal."<ref name="cbc.ca" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 October 2021 |title=Ending the One-Child Policy in China Shows Continued Imbalance |url=https://www.borgenmagazine.com/one-child-policy/ |access-date=13 April 2022 |website=BORGEN}}</ref> The CNN reporter added that China's new prosperity was also a factor in the declining<ref name="chinadaily.com.cn" /> birth rate, saying, "Couples naturally decide to have fewer children as they move from the fields into the cities, become more educated, and when women establish careers outside the home."<ref name="cnn.com" />

The Chinese government had expected the abolition of the one-child rule would lead to an increase in births to about 21.9 million births in 2018. The actual number of births was 15.2 million – the lowest birth rate since 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leng |first=Sidney |date=21 January 2019 |title=China's birth rate falls again, with 2018 producing the fewest babies since 1961, official data shows |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/2182963/chinas-birth-rate-falls-again-2018-producing-fewest-babies |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121205337/https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/2182963/chinas-birth-rate-falls-again-2018-producing-fewest-babies |archive-date=21 January 2019 |access-date=22 January 2019 |website=South China Morning Post}}</ref>

On 31 May 2021, China's government relaxed restrictions even more, allowing women up to three children.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 May 2021 |title=China allows couples to have three children |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-57303592 |access-date=31 May 2021 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hesketh |first1=T |last2=Zhu |first2=SX |date=1997 |title=The one-child family policy: the good, the bad, and the ugly |journal=[[BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)]] |volume=314 |issue=7095 |pages=1685–7 |doi=10.1136/bmj.314.7095.1685 |pmc=2126838 |pmid=9193296}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Greenhalgh |first=Susan |date=2001 |title=Fresh Winds in Beijing: Chinese Feminists Speak Out on the One-child Policy and Women's Lives. |journal=Signs |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=847–886 |doi=10.1086/495630 |jstor=3175541 |pmid=17607875 |s2cid=45095877}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lauster |first1=Nathaneal |title=The End of Children? Changing Trends in Childbearing and Childhood |last2=Allen |first2=Graham |date=2011 |publisher=UBC Press |page=1980}}</ref> This change was brought about mainly due to the declining birth rate and population growth. Although the Chinese government was trying to spark new growth in the population, some experts did not think it would be enough.<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 May 2021 |title=China Says It Will Allow Couples to Have 3 Children, Up From 2 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/world/asia/china-three-child-policy.html |access-date=31 May 2021}}</ref> Many called for the government to remove the limit altogether, though most women and couples already had adopted the idea that one child is enough and to have more is not in their best interest. Because of this new belief, the population would be likely to keep declining, which could have tragic repercussions for China in the coming decades.

All restrictions were lifted on 26 July 2021, thus allowing Chinese couples to have any number of children.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cheng |first=Evelyn |date=21 July 2021 |title=China scraps fines, will let families have as many children as they'd like |work=[[CNBC]] |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/china-scraps-fines-for-families-violating-childbirth-limits.html |access-date=25 July 2021}}</ref> In 2022, the number of births in China hit another record low of 9.56 million births,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Births in China slide 10% to hit their lowest on record |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-birthrate-lowest-record-rcna120257 |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> the first time the number had dipped below 10 million since the late 1940s according to [[China Daily]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=陈子琰 |title=Increase seen in births of second, third children |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202310/13/WS65287b44a31090682a5e83c1.html |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref>  9.02 million births took place in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Qi |first=Liyan |date=17 January 2024 |title=China's Population Decline Accelerates as Women Resist Pressure to Have Babies |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/china/chinas-population-decline-accelerated-last-year-a5096672# |access-date=25 July 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Peng |first=Xiujian |date=2024-01-18 |title=China's population shrinks again and could more than halve – here's what that means |url=http://theconversation.com/chinas-population-shrinks-again-and-could-more-than-halve-heres-what-that-means-220667 |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref> Falling numbers of women of childbearing age and reluctance of young women to have children had reduced the China's fertility rate to close to 1.0 by 2024 (a fertility rate of 2.1 is needed for a stable population).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Qi |first=Lyan |date=12 February 2024 |title=How China Miscalculated Its Way to a Baby Bust |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-population-births-economy-one-child-c5b95901# |access-date=25 July 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref>  A study by the [[Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences]] and [[Victoria University (Australia)|Victoria University]], Melbourne, Australia forecast China's population would be 525 million in 2100 compared to 1.4 billion in 2024.<ref name=":5" /> In September 2024 China announced the retirement age would be raised as from January 2025 as there were too few young people and a growing senior population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ng |first=Kelly |date=2024-09-13 |title=China to raise retirement age for first time since 1950s |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62421le4j6o |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>