Table of Content

29 March 2017, Volume 41 Issue 2

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Prevalence and Social Determinants of Premarital Cohabitation in China#br#

Yu Jia,Xie Yu

2017, 41(2):  3-16. 

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Using data from China Family Panel Study in 2014，we examine the prevalence and so- cial determinants of cohabitation in China. Descriptive results show that，although only about 10 percent of Chinese adults born before 1980 cohabited before first marriage，cohabitation has grown sharply among recent birth cohorts. Based on the“developmental idealism”perspective and Chinese social contexts，we propose that ideological changes and institution changes are the major driving forces of the emergence of cohabitation. Multivariate analysis shows that birth cohort，educational attainment，living in urban areas，migration，party membership，and regional development have significant effect on premarital cohabitation. Taken as a whole，our study of cohabitation helps advance our understanding of family changes in China.

The Influence of Women's Life Course on Their Son Preference#br#

Yang Fan

2017, 41(2):  17-29. 

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The traditional conception of son preference is the primary reason of the high sex ratio at birth in China. Women are victims of the son preference tradition，and they have experienced many life events of gender inequality throughout their life courses. How did these events affect women's gender conceptions? Based on the theory of life course，this paper explores the influence of women's life course on their boy preference by analyzing the 2016 survey data on family and fertility. Results indicate that the effects of these gender inequality events in different stages of women's life would accumulate，making women gradually perceive their unequal status in family and society，which increases the probability of women's son preference. Moreover，the timing and the sequence of these events would also exert an influence on women's son preference. In the end，this paper proposes some policy recommendations for weakening women's son preference based on the research findings.

Supporting System for the Rural Left-behind Elderly: A Life Value Perspective#br#

Gao Ruiqin,Ye Jingzhong

2017, 41(2):  30-41. 

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The supporting system of rural left-behind elderly includes self-support based on farming or livestock raising，descendant-support based on younger generations，and social-support based on welfare system. “Home care”is still the most popular old-age care model that fits in the needs of left- behind elderly in rural China. At present，the base of“home care”relying on self and descendant support is declining gradually，while social support is still quite limited. Through redefining the social role of left-behind elderly，we found that they are not“wasted lives”，but important foundations for the countryside. The supporting system of rural left-behind elderly should include a welfare system based on the concept of“sharing”which helps them obtain the deserved part from social wealth; a medical system based on the concept of“big health”which provides more effective health cares; and the cultural system based on a“bottom-up”concept which makes them better enjoy their life.

Impact of Adult Child Migration on Health of Rural Elderly Parents#br#

Shu Binbin,Tong Yuying

2017, 41(2):  42-56. 

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Existing studies on the impact of adult child migration on health of left-behind elderly are not consistent. Using two waves of China Family Panel Studies data ( CFPS 2010＆2012) ，this paper re-examines the impact of migration of adult children on the health of left-behind elderly in rural China，and investigates if the role of family support is an important mechanism. To account for the potential selection bias，propensity score matching analysis is conducted for robust check. Results indicate that a- dult children's migration was detrimental to rural elderly's health. A lack of care support and emotional support due to child migration primarily accounted for this negative effect. We did not find the critical role of financial support on the health of elderly parents，probably because it cannot be easily transformed into healthy benefits.

Land Requisition，Financial Constraint，and Labor Migration#br#

Chai Guojun,Wang Junhui

2017, 41(2):  57-70. 

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In the context of new-type urbanization，this paper studies the impact of land requisition on labor migration. Based on the data from China Household Finance Survey from 2011 and 2013，we employ the Difference in Difference methods of OLS and kernel matching to empirically test the hypotheses related to labor migration. The results indicate that land requisition would promote labor migration through easing the channel of financial constraints rather than the mechanism of land tenure security. Specifically，those households who are originally from West China，use cash option for compensation，and are confronted with credit constraints benefit more from land requisition and are more likely to migrate with longer distances. Our paper combining the two types of literatures on land requisition and labor migration，can theoretically test the validity of financial constraint theory in the field of land requisition，and also make suggestions for the government regarding how to enhance the employment guidance and ease the conflicts of land requisition. New population trend calls for better attention to the social governance problem for land requisition.

Determinants and Effects of Return Migration in China#br#

Ren Yuan,Shi Wen

2017, 41(2):  71-83. 

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This paper examines the factors associated with return migration using data from a sur- vey on rural labour transfer and urbanization in seven provinces in central-west China. Rural return migration is influenced，on the one hand，by employment status，income，and social security exclusion in cities，and on the other hand，by family life，family labor size and land acquisitions in the villages. Return migration is a combined result of“active return”and“passive return”，and of individual and family decision making. The authors analyze the positive effects of return migration，resulting in Brain Gain based on migrants' human capital accumulation during their migration. Returned migrants are more likely to engage in non-agricultural activities and self-entrepreneurship. Migration and return migration jointly help mobilize labor market and promote rural-urban development in China.

Intergenerational Influence and Mechanism of Migration Behavior on Residential Preference#br#

Sheng Yinan

2017, 41(2):  84-96. 

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Residential preference of new generation migrants is affected by their parents within the traditional family system，and we identify the causal effects based on a counterfactual framework in this study. It is found that migration experience of parents can influence children's residential preference directly，or by interacting with family's endowments including cultural capital，and social capital. Such intergenerational influence has gender difference. Mother's migration experience has stronger direct effects，while the interaction between father's migration experience and the family's social capital is more salient. The results suggest that migration behavior of parents is a major contributor to residential preference of the new generation migrants，because parents' migration experience is helpful for their children to achieve their goals.

A Study on the Unnatural Deaths and the Related Issues during the Difficult Three Year Period#br#

Cheng Enfu,Zhan Zhihua

2017, 41(2):  97-112. 

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The opinion that 30 million is the number of unnatural deaths during the Chinese Difficult Three Year Period( 1959-1961) is worth deliberating. It can be estimated，with the average death toll from 1955 to 1957 as the normal standard and the missing report of deaths from 1953 to 1964 plus the subsequently modification combined，that there were approximately four to five million people who ex- perienced unnatural deaths during the Difficult Three Year Period. The distributions of unnatural deaths apparently differ largely in regional structure，age structure as well as gender structure. Even though the millions of unnatural deaths is a lesson to reflect upon，still，the efforts the Chinese government made against the famine as well as the achievements they reached should not be obliterated. In addition， there were a series of complicated causes that led to the large number of unnatural deaths，and it is difficult to find out the proper answer only based upon the simple cause ＆effect relationship. Therefore， the discussion of this issue should be done by carrying out specific analyses in specific problems.