{"id":16517,"date":"2013-11-18T00:01:54","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T08:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=16517"},"modified":"2013-11-18T00:01:54","modified_gmt":"2013-11-18T08:01:54","slug":"photo-ops-chinas-one-child-families-theyre-for-real-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/photo-ops-chinas-one-child-families-theyre-for-real-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo Ops: China’s One-Child Families — They’re for Real (For Now)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"In<\/a>
One of the many doting grandmothers we spotted in China. Photos by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

China’s one-child families may soon be a thing of the past. But for now, they are very real. Jon and I saw them everywhere during our trip to China in September.<\/p>\n

The news from Beijing on Friday was, in part, that China is about to modify its drastic — but highly effective — one-child policy. Urban couples may now have a second baby if one of the parents is an only child.<\/p>\n

Instituted in 1979 with the stated goal of solving economic, environmental, social and political problems, China’s one-child policy<\/a> prevented somewhere between 100 and 400 million births<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
His mother took pictures . . .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
. . . and so did I.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

between 1979 and 2011 — the figures vary, depending on who’s counting. Whatever the actual count might be, the policy seemed very much in force as we visited China’s big cities in September:\u00a0 Adults with more than one child in tow were a rare sight.<\/p>\n

Currently, Chinese national policy<\/a> permits urban couples only one child, while exempting rural families, ethnic minorities and couples with no siblings. Twins and children with disabilities can also generate an exemption. The policy has led to gender inequality, with male\u00a0 offspring preferred over female, and a male-female ratio possibly as high as 120 young men to 100 young women in parts of China.<\/p>\n

During our China trip, Jon and I heard again and again from our Chinese guides that life is expensive for the growing young urban middle class. Having a second child is not always<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
A family outing in Shanghai’s Old Town . . .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
. . . and on the Great Wall of China.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

possible financially. The cost of living in cities is high, and paying for a child’s education takes a toll on the family budget.<\/p>\n

We also learned that, where both parents are working, grandparents play an important care-taking role. Often they move in with the young couple or are provided a condo in the same building as their son or daughter — and grandchild.<\/p>\n

\"A
Photos by BF Newha<\/em>ll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Note: I’m pretty sure that most of the people I photographed were Chinese and were related to one another, but I had no way to verify my impressions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Because the one-child families of China are in the news right now, I’m posting today, on a Monday, instead of my usual Thursday post.<\/em><\/p>\n

For a story about what once happened in our two-kid American family, go to “When Kids Don’t Fight — Enough.”<\/a><\/em>\u00a0 Read all about my thing for toys at “My Dirty Little Secret — I Can’t Say No to Toys.” <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Everywhere we went we saw dads . . .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"In<\/a>
. . . looking after small children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Some kids climbed the Great Wall\u00a0 . . .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a<\/a>
. . . with dad, and some got a ride.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Twin<\/a>
We saw some exceptions — a pair of twins . . .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"At<\/a>
. . . and what looks like two grandkids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Grandparents<\/a>
The one child is often left with grandparents so both parents can work. Photos by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Photos by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

China’s one-child families may soon be a thing of the past. But for now, they are very real. Jon and I saw them everywhere during our trip to China in September — and I took lots of pictures of mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers doting on that one child. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1128,28,1129,34,404,29,55,82,1130,1131,31,33,872],"class_list":["post-16517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","tag-children","tag-china","tag-chinas-children","tag-dont-miss","tag-fun-photographs","tag-jon","tag-family-stories","tag-on-the-funny-side","tag-one-child-families","tag-one-child-policy","tag-photo-ops","tag-travel","tag-travel-adventures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16517\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}