Opinion | The One Child Policy’s Legacy: A Surplus of Single Men

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by Violet Du Feng

December 10, 2025

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A decade after the end of China's one-child policy, the country faces a significant demographic challenge: an excess of over 30 million single men. This imbalance has left many young men struggling to find partners, particularly in rural and working-class communities. The documentary *Only the Lonely* highlights this issue by following a group of single men through a dating boot camp designed to help them navigate their loneliness and isolation. The one-child policy, implemented in 1980 to control China's population growth, skewed the gender ratio, leaving millions more men than women. This disparity has created a challenging environment for young men searching for romantic relationships. Many feel alienated from society, with some expressing deep-seated loneliness that they’ve carried since childhood. The film focuses on Wu, a delivery driver who describes his lifelong struggle with isolation. Despite growing accustomed to his feelings of loneliness, he acknowledges that the emotional pain remains ever-present. His story underscores the broader societal impact of China's gender imbalance and the pressure it places on single men to navigate their lives without romantic partners. Documentary filmmaker Violet Du Feng captures these struggles in her film *Only the Lonely*, which is an adaptation of her feature-length documentary, *The Dating Game*. The short film highlights how this issue extends beyond China, reflecting a global challenge faced by young people struggling with intimacy and romance. By exploring the universal themes of loneliness and isolation, the film sheds light on the emotional toll of living in a world where love and connection are not easily attainable for many. This issue matters because it highlights the long-term consequences of government policies on societal structures and individual lives. The imbalance created by China's one-child

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Originally published on NYT Homepage on 12/10/2025