Unintended Consequences of China’s Double Reduction Policy: Its Immediate and Intergenerational Impacts

Xin Liu, Xin Meng, Guangqian Pan and Guochang Zhao

No 26034, RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin)

Abstract: This paper evaluates the unintended consequences of China's 2021 "Double Reduction" policy, which aimed to ease students' academic burden by limiting homework and private tutoring. Using a tailored household survey, a constructed policy enforcement index, and a difference-in-differences design, we find that the policy increased private tutoring enrollment, household tutoring expenditures, and parental time spent on helping children with schoolwork. These effects disproportionately harmed low-income families, resulting in worse academic outcomes. Our findings suggest that the policy's effects run counter to its intended goals and may exacerbate educational inequality.

Keywords: Education Policy; Private Tutoring; Academic Outcome; Intergenerational Inequality; Parent Outcome (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 D13 I21 I24 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/26034.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:crm:wpaper:26034

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Moritz Lubczyk () and Matthew Nibloe ().