Birth Planning, Sterilization, and the Care of Children in China — China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)

Citation:

Short, Susan E. (1997). Birth Planning, Sterilization, and the Care of Children in China. Master's thesis / Doctoral dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Abstract:

There is little doubt that China's one child policy has had a profound impact on Chinese family life. Though frequently recognized, the connections between what might be simultaneous and contradictory policy effects on family life are seldom explored, especially empirically. A central goal of this work is to consider the interplay between two such related effects of the one child policy. The first is the assertion that the one child policy is responsible for increased gender bias, and the second is the assertion that the policy has resulted in families investing more heavily in childrearing. To explore these ideas and their interrelation further I ask: (1) What should we expect increased investments in children's care to look like--how can quality care be defined? (2) Is the strength of the one child policy related to increased investments in children's care, either through its effect on family formation, the control couples have over family formation, or in other ways? and (3) Does the relationship between the strength of the one child policy and the provision of quality care to children depend on a child's gender? To answer these questions I draw on two sources of data: (1) panel data (1989, 1991, and 1993) for eight provinces collected as part of the China Health and Nutrition Survey and (2) fieldwork conducted in Hubei Province in 1995. Using these data I describe the one child policy at the level of local communities, and examine how policy characteristics are related to whether or not a woman, or her husband, is sterilized. Sterilization, because it prevents couples from having more children, may alter the way couples care for the children that they do have. To the extent that sterilization is a result of policy, it is one way to incorporate how policy, through constraining choice, is related to the care of children. Analyses suggest that quality care for children is reflected through parents' joint participation in caregiving. Logistic regression models indicate that one child policy characteristics affect parents' joint participation in children's care, and that this relationship depends on the gender of the child.

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Reference Type:
THES

Secondary Title:

Series Title:

Author(s):
Short, Susan E.

Editor(s):

Series Author(s):
Entwisle, Barbara

Year Published:
1997

Date Published:

Journal Name:

Volume Number:
9818422

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Start Page Number:
159-159 p.

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Series Volume:

Publisher:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

City of Publication:
Ann Arbor

ISSN/ISBN:
9780591697766; 0591697769

DOI:

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Reference ID:
1888

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