Ye Liu, a sociologist and lecturer in international development at King’s College London, noted that many Chinese women she interviewed felt like “they were experiments of the state…they feel like they are forever being used by the state laboratory.” And so, despite the relaxation in official policy, the Chinese people are not having more babies.
In response, national and local governments have started to introduce further incentives to have children. There are subsidies, propaganda initiatives, and new regulations on workplace leave. Abortions are becoming harder to get in some provinces, while others have made divorce a lengthier and more difficult process.
But the fear is that if and when these policies fail and birthrates continue to subside, the government will turn to the tried and tested method: coercion. The state-run People’s Daily said in an article last year that “the birth of a baby is not only a matter of the family itself but also a state affair.” Such language understandably alarms many.