关键词: 三代直系家庭, 家庭功能, 人口普查数据

Abstract: In contemporary China，lineal families with three generations have been a typical family formation since the early 1980s. However，this trend differs between urban and rural areas. When children growing up in urban one-child families，especially after their marriage and childbearing，most of
them would not change their preference for a small family. In rural areas，the number of families with only one son has increased since the early 1980s. When growing up，most of those sons work outside the villages. Once getting married and bearing child，they need help from their parents for housework
and childcare. Since such family arrangement is beneficial to young people，its proportion has increased. The majority of the householders of lineal families with three generations were in the middle and early old age in 2010 and their family function of supporting elderly has been weakened. More than half of the lineal families with three generations have no members aged 65 and above in 2010. At the same time，the infant proportion of the lineal families with three generations has gradually increased since the early 1980s. The function of taking care of children has been enhanced in this kind of family.

Keywords: Lineal Family with Three Generations, Family Function, Census Data