China

During China’s one child policy from 1979-2015, unauthorized births were impossible to register without a heavy fine. During that time, birth permission was required to be presented when registering a child. Over half of unregistered births in China were those born violating the family planning policy. This deterred parents from registering unauthorized births, especially the births of girls. Additionally, many births of girls were concealed by local officials and rural families.This enabled career advancement for local officials charged with enforcing the policy, and larger family sizes for rural farming families reliant on their labour. Only in 2021 did the Chinese government shift the policy to allow families to have up to three children and eliminate the fines.