After 36 years, China’s one-child policy has now come to an abrupt end. Urban Chinese families are no longer forced to only have a single child, allowing people to have siblings for the first time in two generations.

And yet, the Chinese public are not taking advantage of the new reforms, preferring to maintain the status quo with one child. Unfortunately for China, this flies in the face of government policy since there has become a need for more births as a looming labor shortage awaits.

Reasons to explain the failure of the new two-child policy to produce more Chinese births can range from the high cost of living, jealousy by single children towards siblings and potential rivals, or the fact that 2015 was considered an “unlucky” year to have children.

Like other official policies, the one-child policy was promoted throughout China on signs and billboards. Chinese were told that having fewer children was their national duty to make China a better place. Now that that policy has changed, so has the message.

This past March during their annual meeting, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference proposed to modernize outdated slogans promoting birth control and improve family planning services in order to boost the country’s flagging fertility rate.

That said, they have got a lot of work ahead of them. The era of the one-child policy has produced innumerable pieces of propaganda extolling the virtues of the one-child policy. From now on, the Chinese government has to subvert their previous message. Instead, they will promote the idea that having lots of babies is a good idea that provides benefits to family and country, something that was not the case before.

Here’s a brief recap of the propaganda from the one-child policy era:

From the start, propaganda posters usually have a simple and direct message. The writing on the poster in this undated photograph (seen above) reads, “Giving birth to just one child is best.”

In this old photograph, the poster behind the smiling mothers with their babies has writing on the top that reads, “Family planning is good.”

The Revolutionary Era produced a very identifiable style with vibrant colors. While the one-child policy was instituted way after that time period, the art style and message persist in later works. The above poster reads, “Practice family planning to support the revolution.”

This poster reads: “Practice family planning to support the revolution.”

One-child policy propaganda can also be seen on outdoor signs written with simple messages. This outdoor sign reads (in red lettering to the left): “Family planning is a fundamental national policy”; in smaller lettering to the right: “Having just one child is best”.

“Fewer births of high quality benefits the country and its people”.

“The quality of life will decline when a family has many children”.

The mural (seen above) has three stages in it where a family is depicted as having progressively more children. From left to right: (one child) Well-off; (two children) Nervous; (three children) Panic.

Here’s a traffic sign by the edge of a rural road that reads: “Friend: Have you implemented family planning (as part of your lifestyle)?”

This sign reads, “The mothers of the world are too tired, and can no longer hold up too many children.”

We’ve seen a number of old posters and outdoor signs, but propaganda for the one-child policy had also extended to the Internet. The picture above says, “Maintaining a low and stable birth rate will raise the quality of the births and the population”.

The poster above, also featuring a family of three with obscured faces, reads: “Getting married and giving birth late; having fewer births of better quality; these are the things that will provide you happiness for a lifetime.”

“Controlling the increase of the population will promote the advancement of society”.

“Few births means better morals and essence; both boys and girls are valuable.”

“Control the population; protect the environment; cherish the homeland”.

Sometimes, these signs were downright harsh. We’re not sure where this above sign is located, such as in a residence area perhaps, but it reads: “Revised family planning ordinances state that fines for exceeding the limit will not be lenient. Having one extra birth over the limit will incur an RMB 14,000 fine; having two children over the limit will incur a RMB 25,000 fine.”

And sometimes they are downright creepy. The sign above reads: “You can beat it out! You can have it come out as a defect! You can let it flow out (as in an abortion). But under no circumstances are you to give birth to it.”

These signs have been telling generations of Chinese to have fewer babies for the good of the country. Now, the opposite is true, and Chinese are now told to have double the number of babies they had before for the national good.  What kind of propaganda would this be?

Thanks to the China Daily, we have a glimpse of what these posters could possibly be:

We’re not sure from where the China Daily got these altered images, but even if people agree with these messages, they likely won’t identify with these images other than via nostalgia at this point.

But then, the message changes with the times. For instance, at the dawn of the People’s Republic of China, there was a belief that “the more people the country had, the more powerful it would become”. And so, keeping with the message of the time, the population of China exploded from 540 million in 1949 to 830 million by 1970.

But by then, it was realized that this policy was not working, and so the one-child policy was instituted. And for that, the message was the propaganda we see here… that is, until its time for a new message. Like now.

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“Labor resources between the ages of 20 and 34 will plunge year by year from 2021,” says Yao Meixiong, deputy head of the Center for Population Census of Fujian Provincial Bureau of Statistics. “The drop could amount to 11 million a year from 2022 to 2025. By 2030, the young labor force will be just 221 million, 104 million fewer than in 2010.”

Official statistics say the number of workers between 16 and 59 decreased by 3.7 million from the year before in 2014.

Yao warned that China’s gender imbalance will only exacerbate demographic issues going forward: “In 2010, among people under 19, there were 22.1 million more males than females,” he said. “From 2020, 10 percent of young men will find it hard to find a wife.”

China first lifted the restrictions on its one-child policy in 2014. Among other conditions, Chinese parents are now allowed to apply to have a second child if either parent is a result of the one-child policy themselves. However, despite many Chinese eager to have a second child, others are deciding to have only one child due to financial restraints.

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With 11 million eligible couples, experts predicted the two-child policy would result in one million additional births in 2015. So what went wrong?

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the issue is female demographics. The number of Chinese women aged 15 to 49 decreased by five million in 2015 from the year before. At the same time, women between 20 and 29 years old, thought to be the optimal time for procreation, declined by 1.5 million.

The commission denied that the declining birth rate was the result of public superstition around the Year of the Goat (or ram, or lamb), though not entirely. Toward the end of 2014, expectant mothers were self-inducing birth before the arrival of the unlucky Year of the Ram. Accordingly, many families decided to hold off on giving birth until the following zodiac cycle, which commenced with the Year of the Monkey.

As for why the Year of the Goat, is deemed to be unlucky, the superstition dates all the way back to the Qing Dynasty. Due to stringent restrictions on freedom of expression, Chinese would often speak in code to express their hatred of the Dowager Empress, Cixi. They coined the phrase “Nine out of ten goats are unlucky”, a subtle jab at Cixi who was born in the Year of the Lamb.

In order to dissuade Chinese from perpetuating the belief that the Year of the Lamb is unlucky, the People’s Daily Online explained that the character for lamb is part of many Chinese words for “lucky”. It also offered examples of successful people born in the Year of the Lamb, including Chow Yun-Fat and Steve Jobs.

With the Year of the Lamb out of the way for another 12 years, the number of newborns is expected to rise. The National Health and Family Planning Commission anticipates anywhere from 17.5 to 21 million newborns each year over the next five years.

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According to data released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning last week, only 10 percent of eligible couples are actually interested in giving their kid a brother or sister.

According to the data, 55,851 of qualified Beijing couples applied to have a second child as of October this year, accounting for just one-tenth of the estimated 550,000 eligible couples. In the country as a whole, 1.45 million couples applied to have a second baby by May of this year, accounting for just 13 percent of all eligible couples, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

At the end of 2013 China introduced a policy allowing couples to have a second child if one of the parents is an only child. A previous version required both parents to be the only children in their families.

However, China’s new, much more expansive, two child policy has not led to a surge in interest for second children. A recent CCTV poll found that 30 percent of parents said they are not willing to have a second child because they don’t have enough money.

Credit Suisse economist, Dong Tao, estimates that the cost of raising a child until adulthood in China is 499,200 yuan, or around 27,700 yuan a year, which doesn’t account for education expenses. “The high cost of raising a child is probably China’s new birth control,” said Dong.

Announced October 29, the end of the one child policy has yet to be ratified by the National People’s Congress, and remains law until such time.

According to Wang Peian, an official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China’s government estimates that with 90 million couples eligible to have two children, births will increase over the next few years, eventually peaking at over 20 million newborns a year.

Related:

• Guangdong’s New “Two-Child Policy” Off to a Rocky Start
• Shenzhen Documentary “Come On, Baby” Criticized for its “Painful” Childbirth

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Xinhua cites a Chinese Communist report that says all couples throughout the country are allowed to have two children.

The one-child policy was introduced in 1979 as a way for China to rein in its massive population boom.

This breaking news was been foreshadowed on Monday when China Daily ran a story saying 100 million couples could conceivably become eligible under a “universal” two-child policy. The report did not say when such a thing would happen, only suggesting that it may “happen soon”.

China introduced a two-child policy in late 2013 in which couples were eligible to apply to have a second child so long as one of the parents is an only child themselves. However, despite many Chinese eager to have a second child, others are deciding to have only one child due to financial restraints.

China is expected to experience a decline in its labor pool as soon as 2021. This is also the time when a gender imbalance that has traditionally favored boys will result in the creation of 30 million single men, or ten percent of the male Chinese population, who are not expected to marry.

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China’s one child policy has long been seen as an oppressive regulation that infringes on basic human rights, however exceptions to the law have long existed for certain families, such as those from certain areas or belonging to ethnic minorities. Some predicted a baby boom once the policy was lifted on a larger scale, but that hasn’t happened.

A CCTV poll found 30 percent of parents said they are not willing to have a second child because they don’t have enough money. Of those who want to have a second kid, providing companionship for their first born was the top reason for doing so (40 percent).

China’s one-child policy mandated children to have only one child at most, however the relaxation allows any couples with a parent who is an only child to have a second kid.

China’s only-child generation is growing up with some substantial burdens. Without any other siblings, a single child will be responsible for at least four elderly adults who will need care in their old age (father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law).

China’s elderly population is growing fast and putting more demands on social welfare and medical services. In Shanghai, a third of the registered population is classified as elderly.

Photo: CCTV

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It’s a tough job being the parents of China’s “little emperors”, the sons and daughters of China’s one-child families. No one understands this better than the parents who just sent their children off to the Shenyang Aerospace University in China’s northeastern Liaoning Province before the start of the new semester.

After labouring all day, lugging heavy luggage that their precious little emperors were too cool to carry, the parents who weren’t able to book return tickets back home curled up on sleeping mats and slept through the night on the floor in the university’s stadium on August 30, China News reported.

According to the university, more than 400 sleeping mats were distributed to parents to temporarily accommodate them in the stadium. From the images shown in the report, parents were scattered around the floor, using their backpacks or bags as pillows.

The story has drawn a lot of sympathy online; most empathize with parents’ willingness to sacrifice for their children, quoting the Chinese phrase “nothing is as touching as parents’ love (可怜天下父母心)”.

But for the little emperors sleeping soundly in their comfortable beds, the phrase might be something they fail to fully comprehend.

Photos: CFP

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The show follows three ordinary mothers as they go through all the various steps of labor: from before the water breaks, through each of the many contractions and right at the moment the baby is finally born.

However, for documenting the miracle of life, Come On, Baby has incurred online controversy and been criticized for having content that is “too strong”. Mothers are shown in varying moments of pain as they cry out in anguish and wince in pain amid blood and sweat.

For being a documentary about childbirth, people have complained that Come On, Baby is too forthcoming in its depiction of childbirth.

Various Weibo comments are as follows, many grouped under the hashtag #Are you brave enough to watch a mother give birth?:

耶鲁宝贝：
Watched a bit of the Shenzhen documentary Come On, Baby and was a bit horrified by it. I don’t suggest anyone to watch it. Everyone’s situation is different, but to watch this show is only to add to your psychological trauma, and it won’t match the perfect, happy way you imagine it to be.

软妺:
#Come On, Baby# I will never have the courage to watch this show about having babies. It’s too terrifying; I feel as though a shadow has cast over my heart. [pitiful face] It’s too difficult to be a woman. Men, you should treat the woman by your side nicer. Are you able to endure the pain that women go through during pregnancy? [disappointed face]

A_moment_like_this_Zzz_:
After watching the episode “Male OB-GYN Doctor”, are you brave enough to give birth to a baby? It’s just too terrifying. It’s even more horrifying than a horror movie. There’s a splatter of blood; seeing that knife cut into the abdomen scared me half to death. [pitiful face] Really, to be a mother is the greatest role of all; Mother’s Day is the most meaningful festival ever.

鄭碧華-Becky:
Come On, Baby: After watching this, I felt like I could never give birth to a baby of my own [ill face]. Simultaneously, I feel that motherhood is so wondrous and great. Today is Mother’s Day, I wish my mother a happy Mother’s Day! [heart] [heart] Now I feel bad for my past behavior of being rebellious and contradictory towards my mother. Mother, I love you! At the same time, I also wish happiness to mothers everywhere, not just today, but happiness everyday.

Jessie瑾欣:
After watching a bit of the childbirth documentary, I didn’t dare to watch anymore of it, I simply couldn’t bear it. For one thing, it was difficult to face such physical pain, and for another, I felt shame at what my parents (have done for me).

温瞳41:
After watching Come On, Baby, I really don’t dare to give birth to a baby of my own. I feel that motherhood is too great a role for me. I must dutifully love and honor my mother [love you] [love you]

阿飞家的瑶瑶:
After watching the documentary on childbirth, I really don’t want to give birth to a baby of my own, it’s too horrifying. However, motherhood is really a great thing. Husbands that don’t treat their wives well should be drowned in a pig basket!!!

独立自主牌毛毛虫补脑液:
#Come On, Baby# After watching the show I wasn’t able to go to sleep, and now I don’t dare to give birth to a baby of my own. All I want to say is: mother, you’ve had it tough. [heart]

张小花小同学:
Watched “Male OB-GYN Doctor”. I really don’t have the courage to give birth to a baby. This morning, I overheard two female colleagues chatting in the elevator who said their children had wished them a happy mother’s day, and I was suddenly very moved by hearing it, really. These women were just 45 years-old.

超级无敌左:
#Come On, Baby# The first time I saw such a documentary, I didn’t want to have a baby anymore after watching it. Watching this show one time is enough. [tears]

居有竹食有肉:
Some co-workers saw Come On, Baby and directly stated that they’re “not willing to give birth to a baby, and are even a bit scared by it.” What does everyone else think?

黄小娣617:
Watched Come On, Baby; afterwards, I’m too afraid to have a baby of my own, it’s really too painful [goofy face] [goofy face]

Finally: China’s overpopulation problem solved by a show that could be aired on the Discovery Channel, and it isn’t even Mythbusters! However, there’s more to these statements than first meets the eye.

This documentary exposes another side of Chinese culture: the influence of Traditional Chinese Medicine on pregnancy. The mother is a conduit for the unborn baby, and Chinese parents have been known to have overzealous displays of protection towards the fetus, even disabling the internet to an entire building because “WiFi is radioactive“. It is common knowledge in China that a shock from falling into a lake is enough to cause a miscarriage in a pregnant woman, as seen on countless serial dramas.

As such, contrary to practices in Western medicine, drugs are not commonly administered during labor for Chinese mothers for fear that they too may impact the baby. The screams and pained looks of this documentary are of women who are giving birth while bareback, so to speak.

It’s easy to inflate the hype over this controversy when these female commentators seem to be refuting basic human truths, whereas in fact are basically advocating female ideals.

And after all, it did just air on Mother’s Day.

Related:
Guangdong’s New Two-Child Policy Off to a Rocky Start

Photos: Sina blog, CNR via Weibo, Csxww, Mop

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Mrs Liu from Guangzhou has been urged to have a second child by her mother-in-law. But upon hearing it’s bad luck to have a baby during the Year of the Ram, due to start next year on February 19, 2015, the mother-in-law tries to persuade Liu to conceive and bear a child during this calendar year, according to Nanfang Metropolis Daily.

The reason why babies born in the Year of the Ram are unlucky is because they are “fated to suffer”. A folklore saying goes: Nine rams out of ten are not completed; this means people born during the year of ram will have bad luck. Considering what type of future is in store for her child, Mrs Liu hesitates to have another baby.

RELATED: Guangdong’s New “Two-Child Policy” Off to a Rocky Start

Ye Chunsheng, Vice-President of the China Folklore Society and the Chinese department Professor of Sun Yat-sen University says the opinion doesn’t hold water at all. “I think people born in the year are very nice though,” he said.

Mrs Du, Director of Liwan District People’s Hospital, disagrees with superstitions regarding luck. “Based on the statistics we have now, the number of babies born next year doesn’t much difference.” In regards to women who may try to give birth prematurely to avoid giving birth to a child born during the Year of the Ram, Du said, “It’s very harmful to have a Caesarean one month earlier than the date of expectancy. It will not only cause massive bleeding, but also amniotic embolism; either case will be dangerous for mothers and babies.”

Hongn Kong fengshui expert Mak Lingling reassures people not to worry about babies born in the Year of the Ram. Mak said, “Rams stand for auspiciousness. Baby rams born in the morning are passive and conservative, but have good people skills. Afternoon baby rams are more active, while evening rams are too conservative and conventional but don’t like new environments.”

Photo: TX News

Related:
Scanner at Guangzhou Airport Finds Passenger Trying to Transport Human Leg
Foshan Woman Believes Baby is Cursed, Gives It Away

The post Guangzhou Mothers Rushing Pregnancy to Avoid Unlucky Year of the Ram appeared first on The Nanfang.

Some applicants are finding it difficult to prove that they are the single child of a family in a process said to often reject submitted documents. In other cases, applicants complain that different government bureaucracies require different certificates, leading to frayed nerves. One of the biggest problems is that the new policy was introduced on a national level three months before Guangdong province passed the new law. So which one applies?

Expectant parents are left with a myriad of questions, including:

There has been a lapse of time between the implementation of the new childbirth policy on a national scale and here in Guangdong province. If I have a child within this period of time, will I be fined?

Applicants to raise a second child require parents to provide a certificate of being a single child, but is there a specific format for these requirements?

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed this resolution at the end of December of last year, while the law came into practice in Guangdong at the end of March of this year. If I have a [second] child in the time from January to March, will I be fined?

It seems like parents are keen to cash in on this “promotion”. The news headline on the first baby born in Guangdong under the new policy on March 28 simply said, “A Discount of RMB 300K”. (link broken, cache here)

The excitement behind the change is why it’s great to have experts on hand to help explain things to the layperson. There is also particular confusion in Guangdong because we’re three months behind the rest of the country in passing the law. Under the title “Problems Leave Many with a Headache”, this article tries to solve the mystery by interviewing two experts, which seems to be one too many.

Li Ruzhang, Department head of the provincial division of the standing committee for administrative law of the national People’s Congress, says:

According to my understanding of the law, any briths to have occurred after the passing of the resolution of the Standing Committee should be considered legal. Although the passing of this law in Guangdong was late by three months, but the resolution of the National People’s Congress affects every citizen throughout the entire country.

Zheng Zizhen disagrees. The sociologist and former director for the demographic research institute of the Academy of Social Sciences says that each case must be evaluated separately:

In the eyes of the law, it makes sense to consider that a national policy would go into effect around the country as a whole; however, we should still try to specifically try to determine when is the proper transition period…(Even if the cut-off time was Dec 28 of last year,) what if someone was off by this date by three days? Then what do you do? How do you deal with this situation? That’s why I think it’s best to act in accordance with the law.

As with all bureaucracies, these two people are completely correct.

This new policy is expected to bring an additional 1.5 to 2 million births to Guangdong province, and is already starting speculation as to how this new demographic will affect the economy and which specific industry.

Despite waiving the penalty for extra births outside the traditional one-child policy, 60% of Guangdong respondents to an online poll state that they would not choose to have a second child due to its high cost.

Photo: Yesky

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