CPDS Abstracts of No. 4, 2022

Yun Zhou Gendering the second demographic transition: gender asymmetry, gendered tension, and cohabitation in contemporary urban China

Abstract The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) framework highlights individuals’ ideational shift toward greater individualism in explaining the rise of non-marriage unions. Contemporary China has seen a substantial increase in premarital cohabitation. Drawing on 65 in-depth interviews with highly educated young urban Chinese women and men, this article examines the gendered ways in which young Chinese adults perceive and make decisions about premarital cohabitation, as they envision their ideal lives and what autonomy and self-realization mean to them. I demonstrate that while male respondents predominantly view cohabitation positively as a risk-reduction strategy for avoiding incompatible marriages, female respondents still consider cohabitation to be a risk-amplification arrangement in practice that increases the possibility of uncertain marriage prospect, unsafe sex, and reputational damages. Young women, but not men, often have to strategize—through carefully managing information disclosure—about persistent parental expectations that discourage women’s premarital cohabitation. As a result, while male respondents regard marriage to be neither the necessary precondition nor the end goal of cohabitation, female respondents, who otherwise emphasize autonomy and individualistic fulfillment, continue to desire a close linkage between cohabitation and marriage. Leveraging the unique strength of qualitative data in demographic research, this article articulates the gender asymmetry in how women and men perceive cohabitation’s risks, benefits, and link to marriage. I elucidate the gendered tension between privately-held ideals of individualism vis-à-vis enduring social norms of female marriageability, as women and men differentially navigate parental expectations surrounding cohabitation. In so doing, this article makes a theoretical contribution by bringing a careful treatment of gender into the SDT framework.

Keywords Cohabitation·Gender·Second demographic transition·Urban China·In-depth interview

Website of the paper https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42379-022-00114-z

Weiwen Lai & Jing Song Different pathways of the second demographic transition in four East Asian societies: evidence from the 2006 and 2016 East Asian Social Surveys

Abstract This study uses the 2006 and 2016 East Asian Social Surveys to map value changes related to the second demographic transition in mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The study examines trends in attitudes towards cohabitation, childrearing, and divorce over a 10-year period in the four East Asian societies. The findings suggest that the second demographic transition, if any in East Asia, is an uneven process between societies, and mainland China stands out as the only society in which attitudes had become more conservative, even after controlling for compositional differences in population. In the other three societies, attitudes had shifted to be more liberal. Moreover, the study finds little evidence on the diffusion within societies, given their similar trends across different sociodemographic groups. From an ideational perspective, mainland China and the other three East Asian societies illustrated different patterns of attitude changes regarding marriage and family. From a behavioral perspective, trends in attitudes do not always align with demographic patterns at the macro level, especially in mainland China. More studies are needed to understand the nuanced differences in ideational shifts between societies and the relationship between ideational and behavioral changes in East Asia.

Keywords The second demographic transition·East Asia·Value change·Diffusion·Marriage and family

Website of the paper https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42379-022-00118-9

Mingzhu Qi, Ya Wang, Peng Miao & Yixin Ethnie Xu Research on the social stratification of rural-to-urban migrants in China and paths to the granting of urban residency

Abstract Today, China has roughly 260 million rural-to-urban migrants, and most are young working-age people. The improving socioeconomic status of these migrants and structural optimization of their living conditions in urban inflow areas contribute significantly to China's economic development using data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2018, this paper conducts an exploratory factor analysis and establishes a three-dimensional stratification framework and a standardized socioeconomic index for rural-to-urban migrants. Graphically, the social stratification of migrants shows an "onion-shaped" structure with a low gravity center and two ends that taper off. Class differentiation among rural-to-urban migrants is apparent. A blue-collar group, positioned in the lower middle part of the stratification scheme, account for 70% of the population. This paper presents a horizontal comparison of the socioeconomic situations of rural-to-urban with urban-to-urban migrants and finds the latter have a more advanced social structure. Education may be the most fundamental reason for stratification differences. The social structure of rural-to-urban migrants improved significantly during the years 2012 to 2018. However, the primary gains accrued to elite and professional groups while the proportion to the total size of the migrant population of the disadvantaged group at the bottom of the social structure remained nearly the same. This change in social structure suggests that some blue-collar migrants, especially skilled workers, moved upward into the professional group; however, migrants at the bottom of the structure without adequate education and lacking vocational skills hardly moved upward. Thus, this paper proposes investing more in rural education to help effectively implement policies to address this problem.

Keywords Rural-to-urban migrants·Social stratification·Onion-shaped·To grant urban residency

Website of the paper https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42379-022-00112-1

Haidong Xu, Hao Zhou & Yuqian Xu Development of educational attainment and gender equality in China: new evidence from the 7th National Census

Abstract This paper discusses the status and changes in educational attainment and gender inequality in education for the Chinese population based on the data from the 7th National Census of China and previous censuses since 1982. The results indicate that gender inequality in education has lessened while educational attainment has improved. However, it is necessary to continue to eradicate illiteracy in the West, further promote compulsory education rates, increase the advancement rate to high school, and reduce the urban–rural gap in education to further develop education. This paper indicates that the increased educational opportunities for women combined with their relatively superior academic abilities have resulted in a new reversed gender inequality in that males are at a disadvantage, especially in higher education. The fact that women have benefited more from the expansion of higher education than men have was an unintended consequence of China’s one-child fertility policy since the family resources are less diluted by fewer children in a household and daughters are regarded as long-term family members. This paper further reveals that although women outperform men at every level of the educational system, they often voluntarily withdraw from pursuing doctoral degrees due to the increasing pressure as they age and age discrimination which drives them to enter marriage and the labor market earlier than men do.

Keywords Educational attainment·China·Educational structure·Gender inequality in education

Website of the paper https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42379-022-00122-z

Zhenzhen Zheng Gender equality progress in a decade: health, education, and employment

Abstract Health, education and employment not only reflect women’s status, but also affect other dimensions of the status. This commentary reviews changes in women’s health, education, and employment from 2010 to 2020 by the information released from the Survey on Social Status of Women in China, and discusses challenges in further eliminating gender gap and push forward gender equality in China.

Keywords Gender equality·Status of women·Health·Education·Employment·China

Website of the paper https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42379-022-00123-y

Wenzhen Li Trends in premarital pregnancy among Chinese women