Table of Content

29 March 2012, Volume 36 Issue 2

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China′s Family Policies in the Context of Family Changes

Hu Zhan; Peng Xizhe

2012, 36(2):  3-10. 

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In the context of rapid demographic transition and socio-economic development,family size in China has been shrinking,family structure has been simplifying,and the traditional family functions have been eroding.These changes have produced considerable impacts on various social policies,raising concerns over revising and improving family policies.Despite the fact that China′s family policies have greatly contributed to population development,family security and gender equity since the reform and opening-up,the policy arrangements tend to be made implicitly that supply deficiency.This paper argues that China′s family policies should be reoriented being explicitly developmental policies.Accordingly,a special government institution of family policy should be established,and family as a whole to be regarded as the basic welfare object,family investment to be aimed at building family capabilities,and family policies to be enhanced to a generalized preferential system with which conflicting policies need to be prevented.

Demographic Transition: A Term that Could Be Expanded Unlimitedly?

Shi Renbing

2012, 36(2):  11-18. 

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"Demographic Transition",which was first proposed in 1929 by the Warren Thompson,is a model depicting population changes,or transitions in birth and death rates over time in industrialized societies,and the theory of Demographic Transition becomes one of the most important theories in demography.In the late 1980s,Van de Kaa & Lesthaeghe put forward "Second Demographic Transition"(SDT) to describe population,marriage and family change and low fertility since World War Two in Western European countries.In less than a decade,Coleman suggested the "third Demographic Transition"(TDT) to interpret the change of ethnic structure caused by low fertility rate and high immigration rate in Western countries.While the demographers who invented the new concepts SDT and TDT did very enlightening and valuable work,it seems to be inappropriate to use "Demographic Transition" to describe all the new developments in population.

Levels and Determinants of Internationalization of Chinese Population Science

Ye Wenzhen; Li Jingya

2012, 36(2):  19-30. 

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Level of internationalization is an important index of disciplinary development.However,as the world’s most populous country,China′s internationalization in demography has not been developed to a corresponding level.By defining disciplinary internationalization and drawing upon a questionnaire survey data,this paper examines the present situation of the internationalization of Chinese population science,and discusses the difficulties and determinants of integrating Chinese population science into the international academic community.The paper argues that internationalization of Chinese population science is declining,the direct and deep-seated determinants of which are shrinking consciousness and capacity in internationalization of the entire demographic circle in China,and deficiencydeficiencydeficiencies in the culture and system of the population science.Therefore,the important approach to improve internationalization level of China′s population science is to strengthen the international science culture construction and to establish the supporting disciplinary system.

Is the Figure of 51.27 Percent an Over-estimation of China′s Urbanization Rate?  Some Thoughts in the International Context

Zhu Yu

2012, 36(2):  31-36. 

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This paper examines the newly released figure of China′s urbanization rate by the end of 2011(51.27 per cent) from the perspectives of internationally accepted rules and criteria in the urban-rural classification and their changing trend in the context of blurred rural-urban distinction.The paper argues that the criteria adopted in China′s urban statistics are consistent with those accepted in the international practice,and that although there are some problems in China′s urbanization process,they do not constitute a denial to the fact that more than half of China′s population agglomerates in urban areas with internationally recognized urban characteristics.In fact,China′s urban statistics not only do not over-estimate China′s urbanization level,but under-estimate the depth and breadth of China′s urbanization process,because they do not cover a large number of quasi-urban populations who carry significant urban characteristics.Such inadequacy needs to be addressed in the future.

Reflections on Urbanization Development in China

Wang Guixin

2012, 36(2):  37-44. 

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In the past 30 years of reform and opening-up,China′s urbanization rate has been increasing monotonically from a very low level with the rapidly growing economy.In 2011 the urbanization rate of China reached 51.27%.However,in the context of the dual-structural society based on the household registration system of China,there has been lagged development of urbanization which has impeded industrialization and non-agriculturalization,and the excessively rapid urbanization would be detrimental to the new countryside construction.Land urbanization expands lavishly,exploiting rural areas and the peasants and resulting enlarging urban-rural gap and intensifying social conflicts.To promote healthy development of urbanization in China,a radical change must be made in the dual social structure based on the household registration system.

China′s Urban Population Exceeding Half: Challenges and Responses

Duan Chengrong, Zou Xiangjiang

2012, 36(2):  45-49. 

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China’s urban population exceeded rural population for the first time in Chinese history,reaching 51.27% in 2011.However,the level of urbanization has been exaggerated.If deducting the landless peasants under forced urbanization and migrant workers being not treated equally in the cities,China′s actual urbanization level stood at 41.6%.There are challenges ahead.For example,an urban social value system has not established in our society;we don′t have a clear understanding of the role of cities and how to develop a city;urban management has not prepared well for urbanization development;and there is a long way to go in achieving equal treatment for all of the Urban residents.To cope with the challenges of urbanization,we need to improve the quality of urbanization,correctly understand the role of urbanization and its substance,follow the law of the urban development,and to explore building of an urban culture system.

Family-related Factors Affecting Child Health in China

Wang Fang, Zhou Xing

2012, 36(2):  50-59. 

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Drawing upon data from China Health and Nutrition Survey(CHNS) 2009,this paper analyzes health status and its determinants of 1291 children under age 18 using OLS/quartile regression.Results show that child′s sex and the proportion of male children in the family significantly associated with child health.After controlling for physiological and genetic factors,geographic location of the family,the family′s long-term welfare level,father′s education level,types of occupations of the parents and age of children are significantly affecting child health.

HIV Risk and Sexual Network among the Elderly Clients of the Sex Industry: The Case of Guangxi

Liu Qian, Guo Jing, Li Fei

2012, 36(2):  60-70. 

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HIV cases involving older people aged over 50 years have increased rapidly in China.Having sex is the major mode of HIV transmission.This study,using qualitative and quantitative data,investigates HIV risk and the sexual network among the elderly clients in the low price sex industry in a border county in Guangxi Province.Observation,interview,and questionnaire survey are conducted,and HIV,syphilis,hepatitis C test are applied.40 sex workers and 108 clients are involved in the research.There is a stable sex network among clients and sex workers,and the elderly clients are under HIV risk by the sex network.

Spatial Econometric Research on Regional Spillover and Distribution Difference of Population Aging in China

Zhao Ruyu, Liu Chang, Zhang Feng

2012, 36(2):  71-81. 

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This paper,bringing the spatial factor into the framework of ageing study,examines patterns of spatial distribution of the regional population aging in China using exploratory spatial data analysis,and explores the determinants and their relative importance with Spatial Econometrics theory and spatial error model.In addition to the population aging inertia and population growth,the paper places emphasis on the regional spillover mechanism of population aging,revealing that the spillover effects are significant.The findings from this research broadens perspectives of ageing research in light of space dimension,which has important implications for theoretical research and policy formulation on population aging in China.

Impact of Social Security on Child Economic Support for the Elderly

Hu Hongwei, Luan Wenjing, Yang Rui, Zhu Mingyin

2012, 36(2):  82-96. 

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Social Security′s effect on child economic support for ageing parents has been a central issue in academic research and debate.Drawing upon data from 2011 Aged Care at Home Survey in China,this paper analyzes the factors that influence child economic support for their parents,including the basic characteristics of the elderly themselves,family condition,and income of their children.Focus is placed on the impact of social security.Results show that social security for the elderly generally leads to a higher level of child economic support,this is because social security releases demands for medical and health services of the elderly,increasing the related expenditure and child economic support.There are differential impacts among sub-groups of the elderly,which are essentially differences between social strata in distribution of medical and health resources and services as a result of the various drawbacks of the current medical and health system.Policy implications for equalizing health security and improving welfare are discussed.

Endogeneity between Labor Mobility and Tertiary Industry: An Empirical Analysis Based on New Economic Geography

Xiao Zhi, Zhang Jie, Zheng Zhengzheng

2012, 36(2):  97-105. 

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Based on New Economic Geography,this paper adopts simultaneous equations to analyze the influencing factors of labor mobility and the tertiary industry and the endogeneity between labor mobility and the tertiary industry using China′s provincial panel data from 2006-2009.Results show that economic income,development of the tertiary industry and economic openness are the major determinants of labor inflow.With the increasing of the rural net income and the decreasing of the gap between urban and rural areas,labor mobility is reduced;capital,labor and market factors promote the development of the tertiary industry;policy constraints obstruct the development of the tertiary industry,and the urbanization strategy in different development stages of different regions has different effects;and the interaction of the labor mobility and the tertiary industry leads to aggregation effect of labor in China′s eastern region.

Family as a Determinant of School Choice Outcome of Migrant Children′s Parents

Yuan Yaling, Hou Jiawei

2012, 36(2):  106-112. 

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Analyzing data from "2010 Survey of Children Development in Beijing",schools attended by migrant children can be divided into three types,namely schools of exclusively migrant children,public schools attended by many migrant children and the public schools attended by few migrant children.Migrant children attending different types of schools generally come from different social strata of floating population.There are increasing trends in socio-economic levels,quality of social networks,proportions of only child,and family education expectations and conditions across the three types of schools.No significant differences exist in either school performances or family conditions between migrant and local children in public school attended by few migrant children.