The DOI matches its Crossref record; 41 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
End of an era? China’s one-child policy and its unintended consequences
Abstract
At the end of 2015, China put an end to the one‐child policy (OCP), thereby terminating the largest family planning program in human history. For nearly four decades it had shaped relations between generations and between men and women to an extent never before seen. Today, China struggles with the unintended consequences of the OCP. It has resulted in the so‐called 4‐2‐1 family structure, in which the only children had four grandparents and two parents to care for them when they grew up, but where they have to shoulder the care of four grandparents and two parents when they come of age, because both cultural values and legal prescriptions foresee reciprocal care responsibilities between generations. This has led to an enormous care deficit, which triggers conflicts between both genders and generations. A second major unintended consequence has been a skewed gender ratio of only 18 women per 20 men because of the strong preference for boys, which has led to so‐called “bare branches:” Chinese men who are not able to find a spouse or have to rely on “mail‐order brides.” The paper concludes that the OCP has come to an end, but the unintended consequences prevail.
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“However, one consequence of the one-child policy has been the atomization of families and the widespread rise of individualistic culture, both of which have led to questioning of the traditional filial piety culture (73, 74).”
From Caring alone: older adult care burdens, practices, and structural imbalances among China's one-child generation (2025) · cites this paper as [74]
In the citing paper
“However, one consequence of the one-child policy has been the atomization of families and the widespread rise of individualistic culture, both of which have led to questioning of the traditional filial piety culture (73, 74).”
From Caring alone: older adult care burdens, practices, and structural imbalances among China's one-child generation (2025) · cites this paper as [74]
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Assessing the impact of the “one-child policy” in China: A synthetic control approach
Gietel‐Basten, S., Han, X., & Cheng, Y. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0220170 · Cited by 85
Chen, W., Gong, J., Liu, M., & Cai, Y. (2025) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1495679 · Cited by 19
Sun, K. C., & Kibria, N. (2021) · Social Problems · doi:10.1093/socpro/spab021 · Cited by 14
Xiang, S., Xiang, H., Ren, Q., & Deng, Q. (2025) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1694636 · Cited by 6
“However, one consequence of the one-child policy has been the atomization of families and the widespread rise of individualistic culture, both of which have led to questioning of the traditional filial piety culture (73, 74).”
White prevalence and White preference in children’s books in China
Yang, Y., Emmen, R. A. G., de Bruijn, Y., & Mesman, J. (2022) · SN Social Sciences · doi:10.1007/s43545-022-00540-3 · Cited by 5
Metadata
- Authors
- Abrahamson, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Abrahamson, Peter
- Venue
- Asian Social Work and Policy Review
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-09-19
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 326-338
- ISSN
- 1753-1403 (ISSN-L)
- 1753-1411
- OpenAlex
- W2521858353
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 0.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Asian Social Work and Policy Review (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Policies and Family
- Keywords
- one-child policy, family planning policy, unintended consequences, intergenerational caregiving, gender relations, gender preference, sex ratio at birth, mail-order brides, China
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