Looking locally at China's one-child policy

Of all the reforms and policies set in motion in the early 1980s in China, the one-child policy has been called the most far-reaching in its implicati ons for China's population and economic development. Almost two decades lat er, little is known about what the policy looks like across local neighborh oods and villages. To sketch a move general picture of the one-child policy , this article presents panel data from three waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1989, 1991, and 1993) collected in 167 communities in ei ght provinces. Local policy, including policy strength and policy incentive s and disincentives, is detailed separately for urban and rural areas. Thes e data confirm that no single one-child policy exists; policy varied consid erably from place to place and within individual communities during the 198 4-93 period.