Evidence of dysgenic fertility in China

•Evidence of dysgenic fertility in China for both intelligence and educational attainment was found.•The strength of recent selection against intelligence rose between the 1960s and the mid-1980s.•The estimated decline owing to dysgenic fertility came out to .31 points per decade between 1986 and 2000.

The relationship between fertility, intelligence, and education was examined in China using a large sample sourced from the population-representative China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) dataset. For the 1951–1970 birth cohort, the correlation between fertility and gf was −.10. The strength of recent selection against gf in China substantially increased between the 1960s and the mid-1980s. Later (between 1986 and 2000), the speed of decline in gf due to selection stabilized at about .31 points per decade with a slightly downward trend. The total loss from 1971 to 2000 due to dysgenic fertility is estimated to be .75 points. A negative relationship between educational attainment and fertility was additionally found. Both negative relations were stronger for women.