Esther C. L. Goh, China’s One-Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving: Raising Little Suns in Xiamen

Excerpt

This monograph examines childrearing arrangements in contemporary urban China. Drawing on empirical data, it highlights the involvement of grandparents in the raising of (only) children and investigates the complexities of intergenerational interaction. Goh’s focus on only children of primary-school age complements Vanessa Fong’s work (Only Hope) on high-school students. Goh succeeds in shedding light on the 4(grandparents)-2(parents)-1(child) phenomenon that is frequently, and problematically, portrayed as a burden for an adult child who is faced with the care of both parents and grandparents. She focuses on the other side of the phenomenon—a single child with multiple caregivers—an arrangement she ascribes to China’s family planning policies. …