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I'd say more difference than connection. China is facing a terrifying 'demographic cliff' due to the previous 1 child policy, much more so than western nations.

by spangry 11y ago

I'd say more difference than connection. China is facing a terrifying 'demographic cliff' due to the previous 1 child policy, much more so than western nations. This also skewed gender towards males in the Chinese Gen Y cohort (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89572563 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8957256...). Similar story is rural India; lots of 'missing women' from the population. In both cases, the first born son is/was culturally expected to be the 'old age pension fund' of the parents, whereas girls were considered financial liabilities until they could be married off (i.e. someone else's problem). The very disturbing implication being: if you can only have 1 child, and you believe only boys can support you in retirement, what do you do when you give birth and find out it's a girl?

simula67 11y ago
Yes, this is why it is illegal to determine the sex of the child before birth in India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_sex_discernment#India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_sex_discernment#India
- spangry 11y ago
  I honestly wonder if this does more harm than good. By which I mean it leads to more of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy#Effect_on_infanticide_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy#Effect_on_inf... and this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_infanticide_in_India#Contemporary_data_and_statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_infanticide_in_India#Co... "The 'one-child' policy has also led to what Amartya Sen first called 'Missing Women', or the 100 million girls 'missing' from the populations of China (and other developing countries) as a result of female infanticide, abandonment, and neglect".
tonyedgecombe 11y ago
China's 'demographic cliff' was already happening before the one child policy was introduced.
analyst74 11y ago
> The very disturbing implication being: if you can only have 1 child, and you believe only boys can support you in retirement, what do you do when you give birth and find out it's a girl? In China's urban populations at least, it is increasingly common for women to take care of their aging parents, I imagine this is partly due to one-child policy. Another interesting shift in social norm is, now single guys need to have a house to be considered an "eligible bachelor", which is a considerable financial burden to many parents due to ballooning housing costs. Those who preferred sons 20 years ago are probably feeling the burn right now.

by spangry 11y ago

simula67 11y ago

Yes, this is why it is illegal to determine the sex of the child before birth in India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_sex_discernment#India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_sex_discernment#India

spangry 11y ago
I honestly wonder if this does more harm than good. By which I mean it leads to more of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy#Effect_on_infanticide_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy#Effect_on_inf... and this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_infanticide_in_India#Contemporary_data_and_statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_infanticide_in_India#Co... "The 'one-child' policy has also led to what Amartya Sen first called 'Missing Women', or the 100 million girls 'missing' from the populations of China (and other developing countries) as a result of female infanticide, abandonment, and neglect".

tonyedgecombe 11y ago

China's 'demographic cliff' was already happening before the one child policy was introduced.

analyst74 11y ago

> The very disturbing implication being: if you can only have 1 child, and you believe only boys can support you in retirement, what do you do when you give birth and find out it's a girl? In China's urban populations at least, it is increasingly common for women to take care of their aging parents, I imagine this is partly due to one-child policy. Another interesting shift in social norm is, now single guys need to have a house to be considered an "eligible bachelor", which is a considerable financial burden to many parents due to ballooning housing costs. Those who preferred sons 20 years ago are probably feeling the burn right now.