International Journal of Social and Behavioural Sciences Vol. 3(1), pp. 001-027 April 2015 ISSN 2327-719X ©2015 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Evolution of the family planning policy in China: 1949-2004

Daniel LEE

Social Science Division HKUST, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong. E-mail: yfdlee@yahoo.com.

Accepted 20 April, 2015

Abstract

Family planning (or population) policy is one of the most contentious policies in China. Some studies suggest that family planning policy reduce total fertility and China demonstrates how, with appropriate population policy, a low-income country could achieve demographic transition. On the other hand, critics complain about the problem(s), such as rising sex ratio at birth arising from the policy. This motivates the current debate about whether China should give up the one-child policy, and also the appropriate policy to replace the current policy. This paper first describes how the four family planning policies have been carried out in China. It is observed that the role of ideology in dictating population policy declines overtime and material incentives and the effect of international community become increasingly important. Then the paper examines the revision of provincial family regulations and demonstrates the spatial heterogeneity in family planning policy. Finally, using a village level dataset, the paper analyzes local variations in family planning rules in rural China. The results of the determinants of village-level family planning rules reveal that local, provincial and national factors affect the setting of rules in the villages.

Key words: China, family planning, policy, provincial, regulation.