Abandoned children in China: the son-preference culture and the gender-differentiated impacts of the one-child policy

Mei Yang, Xinming Xia () and Yi Zhou
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Mei Yang: Tsinghua University
Xinming Xia: Tsinghua University

Palgrave Communications, 2023, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract China has experienced an upsurge in child abandonment since the late 1970s in parallel with its one-child policy (OCP) and market reforms. Due to the scarcity of individual-level data, the literature focuses on informal adoption and child trafficking. This study first demonstrates the spatial-temporal trends of child abandonment across over 100,000 self-reported cases spanning 40 years in China collected from an internet platform. We then examine how the OCP and the long-established clan culture influence the incidence of child abandonment at the provincial level. We further compare whether the influences vary across genders. The results indicate that a tougher OCP penalty increases child abandonment, particularly the abandonment of girls. The influence of the OCP on girl abandonment is weaker in provinces with a strong clan culture, where sex ratios at birth are more unbalanced due to an increased incidence of gender-selective abortions.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02015-z

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