One-Child Policy in China: Implications and Strategies for Leisure Programming

Abstract

The one-child policy has had both positive and negative effects on Chinese society. While the birth control policies have been successful in controlling population growth, other challenges have emerged. One of the challenges is that this policy may influence the value and development of children, expectations, and child rearing behavior. With rapid economic and social development, the leisure and play behaviors of Chinese children and youth have been transformed as a result of a series of changes, and the overall quality of opportunities are currently available. Many studies of China's one-child policy have focused on its demographic and social effects, but there are limited studies that concern the child development and leisure education of children. Even though the public is now addressing the leisure education of children and youth, there is a need to more fully explore the design the leisure programs and play environments in order to enhance and enrich Chinese children's life. In designing leisure programs and play environments for Chinese children, leisure professionals need to be aware of the consequences of their interventions and consider some of the challenges that may be faced by Chinese society in the development of its children and youth. This paper presents positive and negative effects concerning the one-child policy in China and attempts to identify how the policy may have an indirectly significant impact on the children's leisure and play behaviors. Also, this paper will recommend a number of strategies for designing the leisure programs and play environments for child and youth development in China.