ISSUES
: Our Changing Population
Chapter 2: Global population issues
37
to enforce payments of fines.
Without it, parents would face their
child being barred from obtaining
an education and being unable to
obtain an ID card, or paying the
outstanding fines. Assets could
be seized, bank accounts frozen,
or a parent detained for 15 days
at a time and taken to court when
parents refused to pay up.
The legacy of 4-2-1 families
The driving factor behind the
relaxations is that control over
births is no longer necessary.
China’s population is ageing
rapidly. Longer life expectancy
means that by 2050 it is expected
that for every 100 people aged 20-
64, there will be 45 people aged
over 65. This has led to the “4-2-
1” family where a child of working
age could have to care for two
parents and four grandparents in
retirement.
Equally troubling is China’s skewed
gender ratio. In 2014, China now has
33 million more men than women
– believed to be a consequence
of selective abortion and female
child abandonment exacerbated
by family planning restrictions.
Without radical changes, many
men (usually referred to as “bare
sticks”) will be unable to find wives.
Some will question if China’s
abandonment of its one-child
policy will really lead to more
births, as the previous relaxation in
2013 did little to boost birth rates.
Others will note that the policy is
not really over: couples are still
limited to two children. Meanwhile,
with giving birth out of wedlock
still effectively illegal, some will
question if the relaxations go far
enough.
29 October 2015
Ö
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from
The Conversation
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© 2010–2015, The Conversation
Trust (UK)
Only child guilt? Five
reasons it’s cool to stop
at one
By Georgia James
T
he British family is shrinking,
with almost half (46%) of
families in England and
Wales having just one child,
according to the most recent ONS
figures.
And it’s predicted that by the end
of the decade these single-child
families will be in the majority.
Fuelled by financial constraints
– economic uncertainty, soaring
house prices and exorbitant
childcare costs – and lifestyle
choices, such as later parenthood
and an increasing number of
women juggling family with
careers, the only child has never
been less ‘alone’.
Yet the stigma surrounding so-
called ‘onlies’ – and their parents
– is still rife.
“I feel that I have constantly been
viewed by mums with more than
one child as an inexperienced,
ill-qualified, mummy-lite,” writes
Parentdish writer and mother of
one, Kelly Rose Bradford.
“Now my ‘baby’ is nine and I am 39,
this has morphed more into wet-
eyed, pitying glances, tight smiles
and ‘bet you really wish you’d had
more while you could’ low-voiced
sympathies,” she adds.
The view that only children fall into
two stereotypes – the ‘maladjusted
loner, lacking in social skills’ and
the ‘egocentric, spoilt brat’ – goes
hand in hand with the notion that
parents actively choosing to have
one child are selfish for depriving
their child of siblings.
And this stereotyping only
exacerbates the anguish of the
many parents who are unable to
have a second or third child due to
age, fertility or relationship factors.
Nobody is disputing the benefits
of siblings. Aside from rivalries
and the complex dynamics of
birth order, two-or-three children
families have long since been
viewed as the ideal dynamic.
But with single child families
rapidly replacing 2.4 children as
the societal norm, we decided
it was time to debunk the myths
surrounding
‘lonely
onlies’,
challenge the stigma pinned on
their ‘selfish’ parents and look at
the positive sides of the downsized
family unit.
A quick call-out to find only
children, and the parents of onlies,
willing to share their positive
stories for this feature, made one
thing abundantly clear: missing out
on siblings need not mean missing
out on life.
MYTH: only children
are spoiled
“I wasn’t spoiled,” says Dan, 42, an
only child with one daughter, Daisy,
two. “I don’t think being an only
child had much influence on how
I turned out. The relationship with
the parents is by far the biggest
influencing factor.”
Sarah, 38, from Cardiff, agrees:
“If there is one division of parents
dead-set on ensuring their children
are not spoiled, it’s those of only
children,” she says.
“My parents went to great lengths
to make sure I didn’t have life
handed to me on a plate. Pocket
money and new toys were earned
in exchange for help around the
house, so I never took things for
granted.”
And having siblings doesn’t
automatically exempt you from
the ‘spoiled’ category, points out
Ash, 25, from Bristol: “I’ve never
behaved like that, but I know
