Beyond Birth Control: the One-Child Policy and Children's Wellbeing in Transitional China
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One of the purposes of the one-child policy is to improve child wellbeing--that is, "give birth to fewer children, but give them better care and education." Twenty-five years after the onset of the policy, however, it is unclear whether the policy has improved child wellbeing. This dissertation evaluates the consequences of the one-child policy beyond birth control in transitional China by investigating three child outcomes: (1) malnutrition for children age 0-6, (2) overweight for children age 7-12, and (3) school enrollment for children age 13-18. Using data from the 2000 China Health and Nutrition Survey, it focuses on local variations of the one-child policy and sibling composition, while exploring a broad range of factors at the community, household, and individual levels related to each outcome. Policy is considered in two ways--as it operates through sibship composition and as it operates through factors more difficult to capture directly, such as ideology regarding childrearing. Multilevel and multivariate analytical findings highlight that, first, single children age 0-6 are more likely to be stunted than those with one widely spaced sibling. Second, policy is unrelated to the overweight risk of primary school children. Third, adolescents' likelihood of school enrollment is sensitive to local policy variations and sibship composition. Single children and those in strict policy communities are more likely to enroll in school than other children. However, the policy effect on school enrollment varies by age cohort and urban residence. Lastly, this study finds no gender difference across the three outcomes. This dissertation helps us fill the gap in the socio-demographic research on the relationship between population policy and child outcomes in China. 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, household resources, and parental choices. Reasons for these patterns are discussed; policy implications are considered.
JOUR
Yang, Juhua
2005
Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences
66
5
1969-A
0419-4209
127