I’ve searched around a little on google but haven’t found the answers I am looking for. Mainly what I want to know is how the family planning actually works in China. Meaning if the couple already has one child and the woman gets pregnant again, will she be forced to have an abortion? Is there some clause where a couple can keep their baby if they are already pregnant?
Thanks.
Here is a link I found: http://www.refugees.org/world/articles/women_rr99_8.htm
When I was in highschool I remember watching a video about it. The only thing that sticks out in my mind is that they showed an example of a sort of “social worker” who would find out about pregnancies and go to the couple’s house. In the video, this woman from the government was no thug, but she used scare tactics and was relentless. I saw this video in the late 80s or early 90s. It was an expose about the “baby police.”
From my research for a paper on the subject in highschool, you can have more than one child, but you lose all of the financial aid from the government so only the rich can afford to have more than one child. It’s also suspected that rural people hide children from the census takers.
AFAIK there are no forced abortions.
My brother-in-law worked as one of these “baby police.” I never got the details about what he did, but my impression is that he was supposed to investigate “tips” about families who had more kids than they reported. He’d then visit the family in question, and if they were in violation, he’d have to fill in the paperwork for the revocation of benefits.
He stopped doing this a few months ago, partially because he felt it was a dead-end job (the others in his office were older men), partially because it made him feel slimy, and partially because his life was in danger (retribution from pissed-off fathers is apparently not unheard of).
He now sells cars.
If it’s one child per couple, does that mean that a woman can have a child with different men?
The Guardian speaks:
Note that it was a trial law (i.e. it didn’t apply to the whole country). Not sure what the situation is now. Before that law:
Also of relevance:
I’m not sure what the divorce situation is. At a guess, the child remains with one parent. If that parent forms a new couple, the child counts as that couple’s child. The alternative, which might be more sensible from a male perspective, is that the child counting in divorce cases goes with the woman.
This seems like a good summary, although bear in mind that it appears to be a high school project by two western girls, so you can expect an idealisitic slant in it.
Key para:
I’ve heard that if the first child is born disabled (either physically or mentally) then the couple is allowed a second child. I don’t know if that’s true or not.
I’ve also heard that in some rural areas two children are permitted.
However, enforcement of these laws is quite strict - in addition to official “baby police” in many areas peer pressure disapproval comes into play, and women have been forced to have abortions, even very late in the pregnancy.
According to Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son*, enforcement varies from year to year and region to region. There have been forced abortions. There have been many cases where local authorities looked the other way. There are fines that can be as much as 2 years income (admittedly, in some cases that’s not much in our terms, but it’s still more than a poor farming family can afford).
Aside from the fines, a major difficulty is obtaining official notice your kid exists, without which the child does not have access to health care, education, etc.
In some places and at some times, a “one son or two kids” rule has been adopted (you should pardon the use of the word). That is, if your first child is not a son you’re allowed to try again without penalty. According to polls done by the author and collaborators, most abandoned children are second, or third, or… daughters–people who already have a legal daughter risk having a second child in hopes of having a boy (for whom they will pay the fines) and when the second one is also female they choose to leave her on a doorstep, probably to try for a son yet again.
If anyone is interested, I’ll find my copy and post a few more details.
*I can’t recommend the book as entertainment, as it is a very academic read–dry and over-pompous–however, it does contain much information not available elsewhere.
There is no one national “one child policy” in China any more. It varies from province to province and city to city. I can’t stress this enough, there is no one uniform policy or practice. Can’t extrapolate what happens in one place to the entire country.
Generally speaking, most couples in big cities are opting for one child out of choice. Kid’s are expensive. Countryside still tends to have 2 kids.
In many places in China, you can go for child number 2 if the first is a girl.
Shanghai just started allowing a second child, although I’m not sure what the qualification was.
If one get’s remarried, then are allowed to have a second child. I know of several instances where this was the main driver for the divorce.
4 years ago in Shanghai, one had to visit the neighborhood family planning clinic for an exam before a doctor or hospital would see you. I’ve got no personal experience for how a second kid works.
Ethnic minorities (in practical terms, not the Han Chinese) are also not under the one-child policy.