Little Emperor Syndrome

Little Emperor Syndrome is a colloquial term for an 'illness' affecting the second generation who are under the One Child Policy. These children generally have 4 grandparents, who only have 2 children between them, i.e. the little emperors parents. These parents only have one child. This also became known as the 4-2-1 problem.

The second generation children normally have 4 grandparents and 2 parents but since they are the only heir they get lavished with attention and special treatment. With no brothers or sisters the child generally becomes selfish and unprepared for the outside world. There are also thoughts that with all 4 grandparents alive it leads to children being over fed with treats and snacks- often leading to obesity.

Civil Unrest and Civil Rights

Many people, in and out of China, believe the One Child Policy is an infringement on the human rights of couples in China.

The policy led to civil and political un-rest in both China and the rest of the world, due to the apparent bribery for couples to stick to having only one child. The restrictions of the law are believed to be un reasonable and 'ridiculous'.

Couples under 25 are not allowed to have a child, and if a woman under 25 gets pregnant then abortion is heavily encouraged by both Chinese society and the Chinese government.

The inconsistancy of the law (with many families being granted exceptions) caused a lot of controversy within China, leading to civil unrest.

Gender Imbalance

In China it is generally seen to be more practical, profitable and desirable to have a male heir rather than a female one, because boys are seen as able to support the family.

'Some pay for illegal ultrasound tests to discover the sex of a foetus, and abort it if it is female'

However with the introduction of the 'Planned Birth Policy' (or One Child policy as it is commonly known as) there was an even greater desire for the child to be male. Many more female children were aborted due to the policy.

China's Family Planning Association in 2007 revealed the extent of the male:female imbalance- in one city there were 8 male children to every 5 female. The social consequences to the are practically impossible to predict and the Chinese government realised that they would have to act quickly and strongly against the illegal abortions of female foetuses. Some think that with literally millions of men unable to find a wife there would be huge increases in violent and anti social behaviour.

Although the practice of aborting because of the child being female was already illegal, the government brought in more fines and punishments to doctors and parents taking part. We have yet to see the results of this.

Issues- Demographic Structure

Demographic Structure and Dependancy Ratios

The 'demographic disaster' of the Great Leap Forward was followed by a baby boom in the mid-1960s and the economy began to recover.

Throughout the 1970s politicians sought to bring about a drastic reduction in family size as they realised that a huge population threatened to outgrow the available resources. What emerged was the 'one child policy'

Since the introduction of the one-child policy, the fertility rate in China has fallen from over three births per woman in 1980 (already a sharp reduction from more than five births per woman in the early 1970s) to approximately 1.8 births in 2008

China currently has an aging population, as shown in the population pyramid below from 2005.

The aging population means that the dependency ratio will increase. The rise in the dependency ratio is likely to lead to a fall in savings rates.

The reduction in the fertility rate and thus the decrease of population growth has reduced the severity of problems that come with overpopulation, like epidemics, slums, overwhelmed social services

Mechanism of the One Child policy

‘late, long, few’

-Families are encouraged to plan to delay marriage, have fewer children and increase the number of years between children.

However there are exceptions to the policy. For instance in rural areas couples may apply for legal permission to have a second child if their firstborn is a girl, and are allowed three children if they are of an ethnic minority.

Urban couples (who make up roughly 36% of the population) are allowed to have only one child, with exceptions made only for couples who are of ethnic minority or who themselves are only children.

Rewards and Consequences

Those who follow policy are often offered rewards, such as a "Certificate of Honor for Single-Child Parents," loans, social assistance and other assistance depending on their socio-economic status.

Couples who delay marriage and children can also be granted rewards like longer honeymoon and maternity leave.

There are steep fines for couples who do not follow the government's one-child policy.
People who don't comply with the one-child policy are subject to penalties including fines (ranging from one-half the local average annual household income to up to ten times that level), confiscation of belongings and administrative sanctions for government employees. "Excess" children may be subjected to educational and health penalties.