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This research aims to explore how China's former one-child policy has influenced fertility attitudes among Chinese individuals living in the United States.

April 30, 2026Open Access

Persistent effects of China’s one-child policy on childbearing attitudes of the Chinese diaspora in the United States: a qualitative study

Key Points

This research aims to explore how China's former one-child policy has influenced fertility attitudes among Chinese individuals living in the United States.
Conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with thirty Chinese women of reproductive age.
Participants recruited through social media cultural groups, flyers, and email listservs.
Applied thematic analysis to evaluate interview data, with coding done by three authors to resolve disagreements.
Participants expressed a continued preference for fewer children despite no longer facing direct policy constraints.
Key themes included financial strains, societal shame, and internalised norms related to family size.
Findings indicate a lasting cultural shift towards smaller families, emphasizing the influence of historical policies on current attitudes.

Abstract

This study examines how China's former one-child policy has shaped fertility attitudes among the Chinese diaspora in the United States. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews with thirty reproductive-age women of Chinese descent, either born in China or first-generation immigrants to the United States, this study explored opinions towards the policy, self-reported impact on reproductive decision-making, and attitudes towards family size. Participants were recruited from an internet-based survey distributed through cultural groups on social media, paper flyers, and email listservs. Interviews were analysed using the principle of thematic analysis by three authors, who met after coding to resolve disagreements. The mean age of participants was 33. Six participants (20%) used an interpreter. Eighteen participants (60%) were born in China. The range of pregnancies was 0-5, and the range of births was 0-2. Authors found that while participants were no longer directly constrained by the one-child policy, many continued to demonstrate preferences for fewer children. Financial strains, resource allocation, societal shame, and internalised social norms emerged as key themes. These themes echo messages promoted during the one-child policy era through propaganda and enforcement measures, such as audits of family registrations, rewards for compliant families, fines, mandatory IUDs, or sterilisations for noncompliant ones, and even forced abortions for 'unauthorized' pregnancies. These messages reinforced that small families were more appropriate. These findings suggest a lasting cultural shift towards fewer children as a result of the policy, even after emigration. They also carry theoretical implications towards understanding the long-term social and psychological consequences of reproductive mandates and the generational transmission of policy-shaped fertility norms. This study offers a perspective for nations currently implementing pronatalist fertility regulations. These findings highlight the role of historical policies in shaping contemporary reproductive perspectives, family dynamics, and potentially, engagement with medicine beyond geographic, political, and temporal boundaries.

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