Impact of New Fertility Policies on Early Education and Development in China

This book is among the first to comprehensively examine the far-reaching impact of China’s new fertility policies on early education and development.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has entered a period of declining fertility rate and aging population, which poses a serious threat to its sustainable development. To address this crisis, China has radically revised its fertility policy through the state’s guidance for regulating couples’ reproductive choices, abandoning its iconic one-child policy, and adopting the selective two-child (2013), universal two-child (2016), and then the three-child (2021) policy. Drawing on empirical evidence obtained through various research methods, this book offers multidisciplinary perspectives on the far-reaching impact of these policies. Part I summarizes the lessons learned from new fertility policies and identifies important directions for future research. Focusing on two major microsystems, part II presents research assessing families’ fertility desire for an additional child and projecting the demand for preschool education. Part III attends to family dynamics and their relation to early learning and development for both only and non-only children. Part IV addresses the importance of expanding access to affordable and high-quality early childhood education and care for children from birth through age 6.

The Impact of New Fertility Policies on Early Education and Development in China contributes to policy development and practical improvement and serves as a catalyst to stimulate future studies on the topic. It will be a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners of early childhood education and care, as well as for families of young children. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Early Education and Development.

Dr. Xiumin Hong is Professor and the director of the Institute of Early Childhood Education, Beijing Normal University, China. She obtained her Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University in 2005. Her primary research interest centers on young children's social and emotional learning, professional development, and early childhood education and care policy.

Dr. Yong Jiang is Professor of the Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China. He obtained his Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University in 2003. He is the editorial board member of Journal of Research in Childhood Education.

Dr. Li Luo is Assistant Professor in early childhood education at Capital Normal University, China. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2017. Her current research interests focus on early childhood special education, social and emotional learning assessment, and teacher-child interaction and relationship.

Dr. Hui Li is the Dean and Chair Professor of the Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood, Shanghai Normal University, China. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong in 2000. He is the associate editor of Early Education and Development, Early Child Development and Care, and Frontiers in Psychology.