A brief report on a sample survey that was carried out in China in late 1982 and that covered over one million people is presented. In the course of the survey, 310,462 women between the ages of 15 and 67 were questioned in person concerning age, marital status, children, occupation, education, birth control measures, abortion, whether they have only one child, and related topics. The survey, which took three months to complete, involved 3,676 investigators and is estimated by the authors to be the largest survey of this kind ever attempted. Sampling was done by strata, systems, and population clusters, and the error rate in recording data from questionnaires is estimated at about 1.07 per 1,000. The survey results indicate that although fertility has, until recently, declined substantially, China has not yet reached the level necessary for population control. In addition to an increase in the proportion of women of childbearing age, the survey indicates that approximately 21 million out of the 170 million eligible women have not yet adopted birth control measures. However, 33 million women have only one child, and 14 million have pledged not to have a second child.
Immediately after the establishment of the new China, in 1950, the government enacted a sweeping marriage law. The law stipulated that marriage is based on the total willingness of the 2 parties and that neither party shall use compulsion and no 3rd party is permitted to interfere. At that time the law was quite successfully implemented and made numerous people happy by helping to eliminate the feudal arranged marriage and the domination of men over women. In the turmoil of the 10 year "cultural revolution," the marriage law, like all other laws, was ignored. The result was that feudal practices already criticized and rejected were reviewed. The story of a present-day Romeo and Juliet tragedy in China is recounted as an example of a possible consequence of feudal practices. In 1978 the marriage law began to be enforced again. A committee to revise the marriage law was formed. Based on data from the committee's investigations, a new marriage law was drafted, discussed, revised, examined, and approved by the Commission for Legal Affairs. It was finally passed by the National People's Congress and became effective on January 1, 1981. Some unnecessary parts of the old law were dropped. The law again reaffirms the principles of free marriage, monogamy, equality between men and women, and protection of the legitimate interests of mothers and children. The right of both husband and wife to keep their own names is protected. The free choice of partners today is more a reality of marriage in China than when the 1st law was passed, though that choice may take 2 different forms. The 1st choice, which prevails in urban areas, is based on love and the mutual attraction between 2 people. The 2nd form of free choice, somewhat modified, allows the couple to decide on marriage with the help of the parents and a go between. This form is more prevalent in the rural areas. A survey in 2 counties of Anhui province in 1979 found that of 14,586 marriages in recent years, 15% were by free choice, 75% belonged to the category of agreed-upon matches, and 10% had been arranged by parents. The custom of the groom's family giving betrothal gifts has not been eliminated, but it has been reduced since preliberation days. The new law has made both marriage and divorce easier. It is easy for divorced or widowed men to remarry, but under the lingering influence of feudal ideas, it is not easy for the woman to remarry.
80% of China's population is rural. Agriculture provides almost all of the foodstuffs and 70% of the raw materials for light industry. Agriculture is therefore important and rural policies are primary to the national economy. Agricultural production has steadily increased since the cultural revolution. For example, grain output rose from 113.2 million tons in 1949 to 304.75 million tons in 1978; cotton production increased from 445,000 to 2,167,000 tons. Productivity of agricultural labor remains low due to the lack of mechanization and motivation. Before the revolution, China's rural economy lost diversity and vitality. During the revolution, agriculture was left to the peasant households and labor management was neglected. Collective economic units were blocked from initiating new ways of increasing productivity, and agriculture declined. Recent new policies are being developed to remedy this situation: 1) sizes of production teams should vary as local conditions require with the production team as the basic accounting unit; 2) flexible forms of management and responsibility for production are required within the teams. Collective production should be geared to the personal benefit of commune members; 3) plots, livestock, trees, and mountain slopes for private use are to be restored and developed; 4) production teams will not be restricted from processing farm and sideline products and doing trade; 5) rights of management and decision making of rural communes and production teams will be respected; and 6) the purchase prices of farm products will be varied substantially. Results of these new policies indicate that agricultural growth is accelerating. Increases in grain production exceeded 49 million tons from 1978-79. Incomes grew considerably in 1979 to a national average of 83.4 yuan/capita.
The population of China currently numbers more than 970 million. It has been increasing at an average rate of 19/1000 annually since the founding of the new China. The population in 1979 was 78% higher than in 1949. Significant achievements have been made in China's economic construction over the past few years, but a large part of the increase in national income has been used up by the needs of the growing population. In recent years the Chinese government and people have taken measures to solve this problem with fair results. The objective is to achieve planned and proportionate development of the means of production and of humankind itself. At the 2nd Session of the 5th National People's Congress last year, Premier Hua Guofeng proposed that the rate of population growth be gradually reduced to 5/1000 by 1985 and that by the year 2000 births and deaths should balance. This would mean that by then zero population growth rate should have been achieved. Special birth control departments and offices exist in all provinces, municipalities, districts, counties, government organs, and large industrial enterprises. There are family planning workers in every factory workshop and agricultural brigade who bring their services to each family and disseminate advice on birth control. The Chinese government is also implementing a policy that encourages couples to have only 1 child. Awards and benefits are given to couples who volunteer to have only 1 child. Notable results have been gained in family planning. A marked decrease has been registered in natural population growth from 12.1/1000 in 1977 to 12/1000 in 1978. Incomplete statistics show that nearly 4.5 million couples have already agreed to have only 1 child.
Family planning has been practiced in Nangong county, China, since 1971; as a result the population growth rate has dropped from 16.7/1000 to 3.6/1000 in 1979; 98% of women of childbearing age use contraception, and most couples have only 1 child. Before 1971 most couples had 4-5 children; per capita grain rations had to be reduced because of the increase in population, and more grain had to be supplied by the state. 1 child families are now rewarded with an annual monetary bonus, extra grain allocations for the child, free tuition in schools, and preference in job placement and medical treatment. Parents who have more than 2 children are penalized by the withdrawal of 10% of their monthly earnings. The idea of "1 couple 1 child" is a radical change from China's traditional culture, which viewed children especially sons, as an insurance against old age insecurity. Marriage at a later age is also encouraged; in Nangong county none of the men of marriageable age married before 25, and none of the women before 23. As a result of promoting family planning Nangong country has ceased to need grain subsidies from the state, and in recent years has had a 10,000 ton surplus to sell.
