Little Emperors and the 4:2:1 Generation: China's Singletons

Ying, Wang; Fong, Vanessa L.

doi:10.1097/chi.0b013e3181bc72f8

Cited by 54 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The percentage of the population aged more than 65 years in China is estimated to rise to more than 15% by 2025 . This situation has given rise to a new term, the “4:2:1 phenomenon,” meaning that a married couple (both being singletons) will ultimately need to care for four aging parents and one child . In the traditional Chinese patrilineal descent system, sons—who carry on the family name—are responsible for the care of the elderly as well as inheriting the family's wealth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and factors associated with postpartum depression in women from single‐child families

Xiong

Deng

Wan

et al. 2018

Intl J Gynecology & Obste

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and factors associated with postpartum depression in women from single‐child families

Xiong

Deng

Wan

et al. 2018

Intl J Gynecology & Obste

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“…Studies at the individual family level complement a larger body of work on the changing demographic policy on women's opportunities and aspirations. Research demonstrates a shift in parental values and perceptions through investment plans in education and engagement with their children's study (Kim et al 2016;Kim and Fong 2014;Wang and Fong 2009;Fong 2004Fong , 2002Tsui and Rich 2002). There used to be the situation where large families invested little in each child or prioritized their resources in favor of sons.…”

Section: The One-child Policy and The State's Modernisation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There used to be the situation where large families invested little in each child or prioritized their resources in favor of sons. This pattern has been replaced with small families investing heavily in their only child (Tan 2012;Wang and Fong 2009;Hannum et. al 2009), particularly among urban families' investment in girls (Kim and Fung 2014;Tsui and Rich 2002: 90).…”

Section: The One-child Policy and The State's Modernisation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Women rising as half of the sky? An empirical study on women from the one-child generation and their higher education participation in contemporary China

Liu

2016

High Educ

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This article explores the changing dynamics between gender, cultural capital and the state in the context of higher education expansion in contemporary China. With a particular focus on the One-Child generation and women's opportunities and aspirations, I draw upon empirical evidence from a first-hand survey study and indepth, semi-structured interviews with female undergraduates from one-child families in 2007. The study's findings suggest singleton status might mediate the impact of socioeconomic status and cultural capital on students' academic performance and elite opportunities. The qualitative interview data provide further evidence on how singleton women's aspirations are related to their socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. The most significant finding concerns singleton girls' strategy of applying for Chinese Communist Party membership as a way to minimize their social and gender disadvantages. I argue that a bottom-up approach of women empowerment is emerging through qualifications and political selection during China's transition. Political selection is dressed up in seemingly meritocratic selection, thus becoming more appealing to female undergraduates who, in turn, take advantage of Party membership to add a silver lining of political loyalty to higher education qualifications.

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“…Sun and Zhao (2006) reported that 22% of a national sample of adolescent only children felt their parents pressured them too much to be successful in school. Indeed, Wang and Fong (2009) have expressed concern for the mental health of those only children who fail to meet the elevated expectations explicit within the OCP.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soon after the OCP began, critics of the policy complained that it would create a generation of Little Emperors, that is, young people who were spoiled, lacking self-discipline, and having no adaptive capabilities (McLoughlin, 2005; Wang & Fong, 2009). The theory that the OCP created Little Emperors was based on the assumption that only children would be overindulged and overprotected by their two parents and four grandparents, leading the children to develop undesirable personalities and poor mental health.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

China’s only children and psychopathology: A quantitative synthesis.

Falbo¹,

Hooper²

2015

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

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The goal of this study is to synthesize quantitatively the results of studies of psychopathology among Chinese only children. Since 1979, China's one-child policy has generated large numbers of only children, especially in large urban centers, where the one-child family has become a social norm. Motivated by concern for mental health, 22 studies, based on the SCL-90, have been published that compare the scores of only children to their peers with siblings. The raw effect sizes generated by each study underwent adjustments in order to enhance the reliability of the findings, including the identification and replacement of outliers, and weighting by inverse-sample size. In addition, analyses were conducted to evaluate the degree of publication bias exhibited by this collection of studies and the results from the SCL-90 studies were compared to studies using alternative measures of anxiety and depression. Overall, the synthesis found small, but significant advantages for only children compared to their peers with siblings, regardless of subscale. However, moderators of this only-child effect were also found: only children as college students reported significantly fewer symptoms, regardless of subscale; while only children as military recruits reported more symptoms, although the findings about military recruits received less support from the analyses. Furthermore, the size of the only-child advantage was found to be greater for only children born after the policy. Conclusions based on this synthesis are limited by the fact that this body of studies is based on convenience samples of relatively successful youth.

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Little Emperors and the 4:2:1 Generation: China's Singletons

Cited by 54 publications

References 5 publications

Prevalence and factors associated with postpartum depression in women from single‐child families

Prevalence and factors associated with postpartum depression in women from single‐child families

Women rising as half of the sky? An empirical study on women from the one-child generation and their higher education participation in contemporary China

China’s only children and psychopathology: A quantitative synthesis.

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