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ID: 139859

Challenging myths about China’s one-child policy / Whyte, Martin King; Feng, Wang ; Cai, Yong

Whyte, Martin King	Article
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Summary/Abstract

China’s controversial one-child policy continues to generate controversy and misinformation. This essay challenges several common myths: that Mao Zedong consistently opposed efforts to limit China’s population growth; that consequently China’s population continued to grow rapidly until after his death; that the launching of the one-child policy in 1980 led to a dramatic decline in China’s fertility rate; and that the imposition of the policy prevented 400 million births. Evidence is presented contradicting each of these claims. Mao Zedong at times forcefully advocated strict limits on births and presided over a major switch to coercive birth planning after 1970; as much as three-quarters of the decline in fertility since 1970 occurred before the launching of the one-child policy; fertility levels fluctuated in China after the policy was launched; and most of the further decline in fertility since 1980 can be attributed to economic development, not coercive enforcement of birth limits.

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China ; One - Child Policy ; Challenging Myths

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ID: 103912

Impact of population aging on income inequality in developing c / Zhong, Hai

Zhong, Hai	Journal Article
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2011.

Summary/Abstract

Population aging is an emerging issue in developing countries. In this paper, we argue that it is largely responsible for the sharp increase in income inequality in rural China at the beginning of this decade. As a result of the one-child policy implemented in 1979, fewer young adults have reached working age during this period. This leads to a fall in the ratio of household members in working age. Regression-based inequality decomposition shows that labor shortages and the expansion of industrialization significantly increases the return of a higher ratio of household members in working age to household income while the distribution of this ratio becomes increasingly unequal. The interaction of two effects significantly increased income inequality in rural China.

Key Words

China ; Income Inequality ; One - Child Policy ; Population Aging ; Inequality Decomposition

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