Table of Content

29 September 2016, Volume 40 Issue 5

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Parenthood and Subjective Well-being: A Life-Cycle and Life-Course Perspective

Li Ting,Fan Wenting

2016, 40(5):  6-19. 

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Using data from CGSS 2003 ～2013 this paper explores the dynamic relationship between parenthood which is characterized by children’s number and sex structure and parents’subjective well-being．Through the hierarchical APC model，we derive the changing trends of such relationship along the time dimension of age，period and cohort．It is found that the effect of children’s number on parents’subjective wellbeing changes with parents’age．Having more children would bring negative effect to their young or middle aged parents but significantly promote the parents’happiness at their old age．Such age-differential effect is more salient for mothers．The happiness effect of children’s number also differs among parents’cohorts．Parents who were born in the 1940s enjoy the maximum happiness return from their children，after the cohort of which the positive effect rapidly diminishes due to the birth control regulation and demographic transition．Meanwhile，the happiness effects of having son differ between urban and rural parents．While having son slightly promote the subjective well-being of ru- ral parents，it significantly decreases the well-being of urban parents after their middle ages．Finally having daughters would marginally increases their parents’wellbeing，and the effect neither changes with parents’age or cohort nor differs between rural and urban mothers and fathers．

Unintentional Injuries of Children in China: Effects of Mother’s Characteristics and of Mother as Main Caregiver#br#

Song Jian,Zhou Yuxiang

2016, 40(5):  20-32. 

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Drawing upon the 2014 survey data on China’s Family Planning Families，this paper studies unintentional injuries of children at age 0 ～5，focusing on effects of mother’s characteristics and of mother as main caregiver．Results show that children’s personal characteristics are important factors that significantly influence incidence rate of overall unintentional injuries and of multiple types of unintentional injuries．The rate is significantly lower when the children’s mother has college or above educa- tional level; compared with farming mothers’children，children whose mother with an non-agricultural job or with no job have significantly lower rate; the older the mothers，the less likely their children suffer from multiple types of unintentional injuries; the probability of children suffer from unintentional injuries would drop if mother is the main caregiver．The work-family conflict of mothers is discussed under the background of implementation of the two-child fertility policy．Increasing fathers’participation in child’ s care and improving social childcare facilities would contribute to family development and children protection，as well as reducing care burden of mothers and of grandparents．

Intergenerational Relationships and Their New Changes in Contemporary China#br#

Wang Yuesheng

2016, 40(5):  33-49. 

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Intergenerationalfunctional relationship is an institutional system including obligation，responsibility，right to inheritance，mutual exchange and emotional communication．In the era of the contemporary social transformation，parents spend more money on their children’s education than in the past．Instead，adult children spend less cost to support their elderly parents than in the past．The obligation for adult children to take care of their parents is relatively reduced，but the elderly parents who could not take care of themselves have to mainly depend on their adult children．With the only child growing up，the daughter’s role is increasing in the intergenerational functional relationship，and even has no alternative．On the other hand，as the prolongation of life expectancy and increase of generations of lineal members，this will likely increase the burden of the adult children caring for elderly．Overall，at present，adult children's feedback function has declined and will directly affect the reproductive behavior of couples at childbearing age．The reasons for the weakening intergenerational functional relationship are as follows: social welfare system has played a role as an alternative to son in supporting the elderly，some objective factors have limited the play of family function，subjective consciousness of keeping intergenerational relationships has been weakened，the new institution environment that maintains intergenerational relationships has not been established．

Trends in Internal Migration and Mobility: International Experiences and Their Implications for China#br#

Zhu Yu,Lin Liyue,Ke Wenqian

2016, 40(5):  50-60. 

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This article reviews international literature on the changing trends of population migration and mobility and their mechanisms from the following perspectives: the changing trends of different forms of population mobility，the international comparison of the overall intensity of China’s internal mi- gration，the micro life course of population migration and mobility，and the mechanism and recent evolution of circular migration．The authors derive the following views on the future trends of China’s population migration and mobility from the above review and its implications: First，the recent decreasing trends of regional and rural-urban migration in China indicate changes in the forms of China’s population mobility rather than a real decline of its overall volume and intensity，which will still be on the rise; Second，great attention still needs to be paid to the portable issues of various public services provided to the floating population; and third，the management of and services to the floating population need to be improved in accordance with the changes in the forms of population mobility，especially the rise of urban to urban and intra-urban migration and mobility．

Social Inclusion Confidence Index for Migrants: Compilation and Application#br#

Yang Jianglan,Wang Jie,Xue Haijiao,Li Hua

2016, 40(5):  61-74. 

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Borrowing from Michigan Consumer Confidence Index，this paper constructs Social Inclusion Confidence Index for China’s rural to urban migrants．Based on evaluation of present situation of social inclusion and expectations，the index specifically incorporates towns-favoring，attention，admission，equality，happiness，intention，expectation of obtaining household registration and expectation of long-term residence in urban areas．The index is used in the analysis of the 2012 China National Migrants Survey，from the overall situation to the differences among the provinces and types of cities．The construction and application of the index may provide important information for government and for development of relevant industries，help predict the future trends in migration and in social inclusion，and provide reference for policy making and urban development planning．

Determinants of Social Isolation of the Chinese Elderly#br#

Zhang Wenjuan,Liu Ruiping

2016, 40(5):  75-91. 

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The social convoy model and the socioemotional selectivity theory，which have been adopted to study the social networks of elderly people in the Western societies，are tested in the Chinese context to shed light on the important factors affecting social isolation of the elderly in China．Employing data from China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey ( CLASS) ，this paper examines the current situation of family and friend isolation of the Chinese elderly，and analyzes the determinants of social isolation using logistic regression models．The results show that ageing increases the risk of friend isolation，but restrain the possibility of family isolation．A comparison of the determinants of family isolation with those of friend isolation suggests that family characteristics are the main predicting factors for the elderly family isolation，while health status is the major determinant of friend isolation of the Chinese elderly.Socioeconomic status，social participation and social environment are also significant influencing factors．

Intergenerational Investment and Intergenerational Economic Support of the Rural Elderly: Intergenerational Cooperation and Family Utility

Hu Shiyong,Shi Renbing

2016, 40(5):  92-103. 

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By analyzing a nationally representative survey data，this paper responds to the classic proposition of the relationship between family intergenerational cooperation and family utility，focusing on the influence of intergenerational investment on the intergenerational economic support of the rural elderly in China．Using logistic multivariate model and propensity score matching method，we have found that parent income and number of offspring affect the relationship between offspring investment and rural elderly intergenerational economic support．In the three-generation intergenerational exchange，the investment on the grandchild generation has a significantly positive impact on the intergenerational economic support of the rural elderly．In the three-generation inter-generational cooperation，the investment on the third generation has a positive impact on family utility．In the context of the positive relationship between intergenerational cooperation and utility of rural elderly family，fertility preferences become an important parameter affecting family utility，being aware of the imbalance of intergenerational exchange and the growth of the child-generation family utility．