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Playlist: China

Compiled By: Eva Breneman

Caption: PRX default Playlist image
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The Gender Gap in China (January 23, 2014)

From Timothy Spangler | Part of the The Bigger Picture series | 01:56

What the growing gender gap in China can tell us about future threats to an increasingly worried Communist Party leadership in Beijing.

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China's One Child Policy: Stories of Struggles with its Unintended Consequences (Series)

Produced by Jennifer Dunn

Most recent piece in this series:

China's One Child Policy: Couples struggle to find the loopholes

From Jennifer Dunn | Part of the China's One Child Policy: Stories of Struggles with its Unintended Consequences series | 05:59

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China’s one child policy puts many couples in the difficult position of balancing the consequences of violating the policy against the cultural and familial consequences of not having a son. While some couples- including rural farmers- are allowed a second child if their first child is a girl, public and government employees don’t have this option. If they have a second child, penalties for violating the one child policy can include heavy fines, loss of housing and demotion from their jobs. However, failing to have a son can put families in turmoil, due to deeply held traditional beliefs that only sons of sons can carry on family lines and properly worship ancestors. Many couples (who have a daughter first) resort to complicated ways of tricking the system, and finding a way to have a son without openly breaking the law.