a comparative view of family policy

China’s one-child policy

population control policy

supervised by workplace family planning committees: women must seek their permission to try to become pregnant

what happens to couples who comply with the policy?

they receive extra benefits e.g., free child healthcare and tax allowances. an only child will also get priority in education + housing later in life

what happens to couples who break their agreement to have only one child?

must repay the allowances and pay a fine

Communist Romania

1980s

series of policies to drive up birth rate (had been falling as living standards declined)

restricted contraception + abortio, set up infertility treatment centres, divorce made more difficult, legal age of marriage lowered to 15, unmarried adults + childless couples paid extra 5% income tax

Nazi family policy

1930s

twofold policy

encouraged the healthy and supposedly ‘racially pure’ to breed a ‘master race’ (restricting access to contraception/abortion)

official policy sought to keep women out of workforce

why was Nazi family policy twofold?

encouraged reproducing but also state compulsorily sterilised 375000 disabled people

many of these people later murdered in camps

democratic societies

contrasting to extreme examples, some people argue that in democratic societies e.g., Britain, the family is a private sphere which govt don’t intervene (except when things ‘go wrong’ ie child abuse)

critical view of democratic societies

state’s social policies actually do play a very important role in shaping family life