Beyond Birth Control: Fertility Policy and Children?s Wellbeing in Transitional China

Revision with unchanged content. One of the purposes of China’s fertility policy is to improve child wellbeing. Twenty-eight years after the onset of the policy, however, it is unclear whether it has achieved this goal. This work evaluates the consequences of the policy beyond fertility control in transitional China by investigating three child outcomes: malnutrition for children ages 0-6, overweight for children ages 7-12, and school enrollment for children ages 13-18. Using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey, it focuses on the local variations of the policy and sibling composition, while exploring a broad range of other factors related to each outcome. Analytical results highlight that the policy rules and sibship composition have little effect on child health, but single children are more likely to enroll in school than other children. As much as the policy has motivated couples to reduce number of births and internalize the norms of “give children better care and education,” all children are better off in health and education. However, the complexity and the presence or absence of policy effect on the diverse dimensions of child outcomes reflect the unique demands of children in different stages of life course, for household resources, and parental choices. The book is addressed to researchers in sociology, population studies, public health, and relevant policy-makers within and beyond China.

Associate Professor,Center for Population and Development Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, P. R. China