Historically, Chinese parents preferred larger families; often parents gave special treatment to their sons over their daughters. Dodge and Suter explain that this preference is on the grounds that males are able to carry on the family name which is important due to the cultural traditions of paying respect to ancestors (17). Another study states that “only boys can continue the patrilineal family line, girl babies are seen as financial burdens” (Liisanantti and Beese). Ling acknowledges that "Chinese families viewed a firstborn son to have a worth of about 1.85 years of income, while the first-born girl held a value of only about 0.43 years of income" (All Girls Allowed). Lebell contends that, “[a couple] [is] creating and reinforcing the
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Those who fall under the following categories are ones who can only have one child, “from ethnic majority (Han), live in the city, [or] work for the government”. Those who fall under the preceding categories face heavy fines if they chose to have more than their allotted one child. Many couples falling under other categories such as “ethnic minority (non-Han), a couple where each of the parents grew up without siblings, live in rural areas, or in a second marriage and one partner has not had a child” can have a second child but only if their first child is a girl. Only two types of couples fall under the category of having two children regardless of the first one sex, “if the first child is born with a disability or both parents work in high risk occupations”. (Dodge and Suter 15). Xinran explains that “having more than one child meant losing your job, your home, your entitlement to food and clothing rations, your child’s entitlement to schooling and medical care, and even your chance of finding other work. . .just because you had had one “extra” child” (xxiv) in addition to paying heavy fines. In fact, Ling explains that "[n]early two-thirds of all Chinese couples (900 million people, or ~~~almost 3x the US population) are under the jurisdiction of the policy" (All Girls Allowed). More than one side of the policy exist that allow certain couples more than one child, however few couples fit the description leading to the majority of couples having only one
Those who fall under the following categories are ones who can only have one child, “from ethnic majority (Han), live in the city, [or] work for the government”. Those who fall under the preceding categories face heavy fines if they chose to have more than their allotted one child. Many couples falling under other categories such as “ethnic minority (non-Han), a couple where each of the parents grew up without siblings, live in rural areas, or in a second marriage and one partner has not had a child” can have a second child but only if their first child is a girl. Only two types of couples fall under the category of having two children regardless of the first one sex, “if the first child is born with a disability or both parents work in high risk occupations”. (Dodge and Suter 15). Xinran explains that “having more than one child meant losing your job, your home, your entitlement to food and clothing rations, your child’s entitlement to schooling and medical care, and even your chance of finding other work. . .just because you had had one “extra” child” (xxiv) in addition to paying heavy fines. In fact, Ling explains that "[n]early two-thirds of all Chinese couples (900 million people, or ~~~almost 3x the US population) are under the jurisdiction of the policy" (All Girls Allowed). More than one side of the policy exist that allow certain couples more than one child, however few couples fit the description leading to the majority of couples having only one