China's One-Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving: Raising Little Suns in Xiamen (Routledge Contemporary China Series)

This book explores the effects of China’s one child policy on modern Chinese families. It is widely thought that such a policy has contributed to the creation of a generation of little emperors or little suns spoiled by their parents and by the grandparents who have been recruited to care for the child while the middle generation goes off to work. Investigating what life is really like with three generations in close quarters and using urban Xiamen as a backdrop, the author shows how viewing the grandparents and parents as engaged in an intergenerational parenting coalition allows for a more dynamic understanding of both the pleasures and conflicts within adult relationships, particularly when they are centred around raising a child. Based on both survey data and ethnographic fieldwork, the book also makes it clear that parenting is only half the story. The children, of course, are the other. Moreover, these children not only have agency, but constantly put it to work as a way to displace the burden of expectations and steady attention that comes with being an only child in contemporary urban China. These ‘lone tacticians’, as Goh calls them, are not having an easy time and not all are living like spoiled children. The reality is far more challenging for all three generations. The book will be of interest to those in family studies, education, psychology, sociology, Asian Studies, and social work. Title......Page 8 Copyright......Page 9 Contents......Page 12 Illustrations......Page 14 Foreword......Page 16 Preface......Page 20 Endorsement......Page 26 Acknowledgments......Page 28 1 Introduction......Page 30 2 Contemporary Chinese childrearing: A new lens......Page 40 3 The 4-2-1 phenomenon in Xiamen: One child, many caregivers......Page 54 4 Grandparents and parents: Who is in charge?......Page 72 5 The power of little suns as agentic beings......Page 101 6 The plight of little suns as lone tacticians......Page 128 7 Conclusion......Page 150 Appendix A: Details of survey questionnaire......Page 165 Appendix B: Recruitment via key liaison persons......Page 166 Appendix C: Contact schedule sheet......Page 167 Appendix D: Analytical strategies for ethnographic data......Page 169 Appendix E: Influence of unilateral model on childrearing research in China......Page 176 Notes......Page 180 Bibliography......Page 188 Index......Page 202 This book examines the social phenomenon in contemporary urban China where grandparents from either or both paternal and maternal lineage, together with the biological parents, revolve themselves around raising the single child who is commonly referred to as 'little sun' This endearing term denotes the high position these single children occupy in their families. The book will explain this 4-2-1 experience both from the perspectives of the multiple caregivers as well as that of the 'little suns'. It also discusses how socio-economic and political transformations at the macro scale are imp Introduction -- Contemporary Chinese Childrearing : A New Lens -- The 4-2-1 Phenomenon In Xiamen : One Child, Many Caregivers -- Grandparents And Parents, Who Is In Charged? -- The Power Of Little Suns As Agentic Beings -- The Plight Of Little Suns As Lonely Tacticians -- Conclusion. Esther C. L. Goh. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This volume examines the social phenomenon in contemporary urban China where grandparents from either or both paternal and maternal lineage, together with the biological parents, revolve themselves around raising the single child who is commonly referred to as 'little sun'