Did the one-child policy accelerate gender equality in China? A cross-country difference-in-differences analysis

Abstract

Classic feminist theories have long emphasized high fertility as the main cause of gender inequality and predict that a significant reduction in fertility would lead to reduced gender inequality. In this project, we investigate whether the one-child policy accelerated gender equality in China. We measure gender inequality by Gender Development Index (GDI), Gender Inequality Index (GII), maternal mortality ratio, and infant mortality rate at the national level from China and five populous middle-income countries in an analysis of difference in differences (DiD). A cross-country DiD sets up a framework in which China with the treatment of the one-child policy could be compared with the control countries without the treatment of the policy. Our analysis shows that China lowered GII by additional 20%, maternal mortality ratio by additional 10% and infant mortality rate by additional 6% relative to the five comparison countries during the period of the one-child policy.