Volume 43 - Article 5 | Pages 129–142  

Introduction to the special collection on life course decisions of families in China

By Bing Xu, William A.V. Clark, Eric Fong, Li Gan

This article is part of the Special Collection 28 „Life-Course Decisions of Families in China“

Abstract

Background: The economic reforms of the last thirty years have produced a dramatic improvement in the standard of living in China. However, the concurrent social transformation has also created both stresses and challenges for Chinese families. While researchers have paid considerable attention to the headline demographic statistics accompanying these economic and social transformations, the nuanced ways in which Chinese society has changed and continues to change since the reforms are less understood.

Contribution: This special collection uses the life course framework, which has emerged as an important organizing concept within demographic studies, to examine constancy and change in Chinese society since the reforms of the late 1990s. By framing life events as the result of decisions that are influenced by and sometimes are direct responses to China’s modernization, and investigating how these decisions collectively affect and reshape Chinese society, the papers in this collection provide a rich way of interpreting and understanding demographic changes in China.

Author’s Affiliation

• Bing Xu - Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, China EMAIL
• William A.V. Clark - University of California, Los Angeles, United States of America EMAIL
• Eric Fong - University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong EMAIL
• Li Gan - Texas A&M University, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Living separately but living close: Coresidence of adult children and parents in urban China
Volume 43 - Article 12

Life course and cohort effects on Chinese parents' investments in their children
Volume 43 - Article 8

Transitions to partnership and parenthood: Is China still traditional?
Volume 43 - Article 6

Loss aversion and duration of residence
Volume 35 - Article 36

Do women delay family formation in expensive housing markets?
Volume 27 - Article 1

Family migration and mobility sequences in the United States: Spatial mobility in the context of the life course
Volume 17 - Article 20

A comparative analysis of leaving home in the United States, the Netherlands and West Germany
Volume 7 - Article 17

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Examining the relationships between education, coresidential unions, and the fertility gap by simulating the reproductive life courses of Dutch women
Volume 52 - Article 24    | Keywords: contraception, education, fertility, GGS, life course, LISS, microsimulation, Netherlands, physiology, unions

Uncovering what matters: Family life-course aspects and personal wealth in late working age
Volume 52 - Article 22    | Keywords: family dynamics, feature selection, life course, social stratification, wealth

Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women’s position in contemporary China
Volume 50 - Article 46    | Keywords: brideprice, China, divorce, family, family law, gender inequalities, marriage

The intergenerational transmission of migration capital: The role of family migration history and lived migration experiences
Volume 50 - Article 29    | Keywords: childhood, emigration, Europe, immigration, life course

Moving towards gender equality in China: The influence of migration experiences on rural migrants’ gender role attitudes
Volume 49 - Article 14    | Keywords: China, culture, gender attitudes, gender roles, rural-urban migration