Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy
Abstract China has experienced an upsurge in child abandonment since the late 1970s in parallel with its one-child policy (OCP) and market reforms. Due to the scarcity of individual-level data, the literature focuses on informal adoption and child trafficking. This study first demonstrates the spati...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02015-z |
| _version_ | 1827635178589126656 |
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| author | Mei Yang Xinming Xia Yi Zhou |
| author_facet | Mei Yang Xinming Xia Yi Zhou |
| author_sort | Mei Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract China has experienced an upsurge in child abandonment since the late 1970s in parallel with its one-child policy (OCP) and market reforms. Due to the scarcity of individual-level data, the literature focuses on informal adoption and child trafficking. This study first demonstrates the spatial-temporal trends of child abandonment across over 100,000 self-reported cases spanning 40 years in China collected from an internet platform. We then examine how the OCP and the long-established clan culture influence the incidence of child abandonment at the provincial level. We further compare whether the influences vary across genders. The results indicate that a tougher OCP penalty increases child abandonment, particularly the abandonment of girls. The influence of the OCP on girl abandonment is weaker in provinces with a strong clan culture, where sex ratios at birth are more unbalanced due to an increased incidence of gender-selective abortions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:24:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f7796db461544bd8cf945497aca24d2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:24:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f7796db461544bd8cf945497aca24d22023-11-26T12:37:42ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922023-08-0110111010.1057/s41599-023-02015-zAbandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policyMei Yang0Xinming Xia1Yi Zhou2School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua UniversitySchool of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua UniversityCenter for Social Research and Guanghua School of Management, Peking UniversityAbstract China has experienced an upsurge in child abandonment since the late 1970s in parallel with its one-child policy (OCP) and market reforms. Due to the scarcity of individual-level data, the literature focuses on informal adoption and child trafficking. This study first demonstrates the spatial-temporal trends of child abandonment across over 100,000 self-reported cases spanning 40 years in China collected from an internet platform. We then examine how the OCP and the long-established clan culture influence the incidence of child abandonment at the provincial level. We further compare whether the influences vary across genders. The results indicate that a tougher OCP penalty increases child abandonment, particularly the abandonment of girls. The influence of the OCP on girl abandonment is weaker in provinces with a strong clan culture, where sex ratios at birth are more unbalanced due to an increased incidence of gender-selective abortions.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02015-z |
| spellingShingle | Mei Yang Xinming Xia Yi Zhou Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy |
| title_full | Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy |
| title_fullStr | Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy |
| title_short | Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy |
| title_sort | abandoned children in china the son preference culture and the gender differentiated impacts of the one child policy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02015-z |
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