Effects of the "One-Child" Policy and the Number of Children in Families on the Mental Health of Children in China

For over three decades (1979 to 2015), China has comprehensively implemented the "one-child" policy, consequently the number of "one-child" families has increased. Due to being spoiled by their parents and the lack of companionship from siblings, the "one-child" policy has exerted adverse effects on the mental health development of only children. Using the survey data of the Rural Urban Migration in China from 2008 to 2009, self-esteem, mental stress, and depression were employed in the study as indicators to measure mental health. An empirical analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the "one-child" policy on the mental health of the first generation of only children. Results demonstrate that compared with non-only children, only children born under the "one-child" policy are inclined to avoid difficulties and problems. In addition, they have low confidence, suffer from mental stress, exhibit a high depression trend, and have low happiness and sense of security. However, after further controlling the quantity of children in each family, we find that under conditions with limited resources, the case that larger families are better than one-child families is not true. As the number of sibling increases, the mental health indicators of children initially increase and then decline. This trend shows that having only one child or too many children in the family can both adversely affect the improvement of population quality. The results obtained in the study are beneficial for promoting the mental quality of the population, improving the quality of life, significantly optimizing the family structure.