Table of Content

29 July 2013, Volume 37 Issue 4

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Trends in Life Expectancies and Mortality Patterns in China since 1990 A Further Examination and Analysis

Wang Jinying

2013, 37(4):  3-18. 

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This paper analyzes death underreporting in China＇s population censuses with a reestimation of levels and patterns of mortality since 1990．There is severe death underreporting at ages 0-4，more notably in the 2010 census．Death reporting is also rather incomplete at ages 60 and over． Death probabilities are reestimated by age and sex from which life tables are reconstructed． Over the last 20 years，life expectancy at birth has increased from 67.33 to 71.58 years for males and from 71.70 to 78.26 years for females，respectively．Pace of mortality improvement has been more rapid in the recent decade that in the past．

Settlement Intention of Rural Migrants in Chinese Cities: Findings from a Twelve-city Migrant Survey

Wang Yujun

2013, 37(4):  19-32. 

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Drawing upon data from a twelve-city migrant survey conducted in 2009， this paper takes the advantage of structural equation modeling to examine the determinants of settlement intention of migrant workers， and to explore the mechanism of how these determinants indirectly affect settlement intentions via
city attachment． Model results show that the sense of city attachment plays an important role in determining rural migrantsintention to make permanent settlement in cities． Migrants of more years of education，being single， having skilled job， and with spouse or boy or girl friend in the same city are more willing to settle in cities． Having access to formal housing， frequently interacting with local people， and mastering local language not only positively affect the intention to settle in cities， but also indirectly and positively affect settlement intention via city attachment． The direct negative effect of size of social network on settlement intention is greater than the indirect positive effect via city attachment． Experience of discrimination and gender role also indirectly affect settlement intention． Model results also demonstrate the significance of further distinguishing the direct and indirect effects．

Reproduction under Inertial Growth in China: National and Provincial Changes

Song Jian, Fan Wenting

2013, 37(4):  33-42. 

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China is still in the process of inertial growth with positive natural increase rate and rising total population size． However，China s population reproductive pattern has changed into that of an intrinsically negative growth under the surface of positive increase． Using 2000 and 2010 national population census data，this paper calculates the national and provincial population reproductive indicators including NRR，T and k in China，and conducts a cluster analysis to classify the 31 provinces，cities and autonomous regions into four groups according to NRR and T． Results indicate that China has seen its intrinsic increase rate below-20‰ and NRR in 2000 and 2010 very close to 0. 5，implying a huge negative population momentum potential． The population reproductive patterns in 31 regions show consistently reducing trends，and gaps among regions are getting smaller in the first decade of the 21st
century． The average lengths between generations are enlarging with a national average level of over 28 years． Such regions as Beijing and Guangdong have presented extremely late childbearing and extremely few children situation． The paper also discusses the possible influence of data defects on the results．

IntercityMobilityandUrbanIntegrationof Migrant Workers

Tian Ming

2013, 37(4):  43-55. 

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In China the high level of intercity mobility of migrant workers is not conducive to the sustainable development of urbanization． Based on a survey of migrant workers in six cities in Eastern China，this research analyzes the features of spatial mobility and group differentiation of migrant workers，and investigates the individual －level factors determining spatial mobility level as well as factors representing the relations between migrant workers and socioeconomic environment． Age，educational attainment and number of years since out －migration from rural home are significant individual －level determinantsof spatial mobility．With respect to the individual －environment relations，influential factors include family accompanying status，income，industry urban pension insurance participation，and social relationship with local communities． Higher level of urban integration is associated with lower spatial mobility， longer duration of stay in the city，and more stable work and life．

Statistical Chaos or Divisional Administration:An Understanding of Multiple Definitions of Chinas Floating Population

Wei Yan, Zhang Li

2013, 37(4):  56-65. 

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The massive size of floating population is the vantage point for understanding China s post －reform developments brought by rural － to － urban migration and urbanization． Currently，the magnitude of floating population is available from several authoritative sources，including national censuses，administrative
registration records from the Ministry of Public Security and the National Population and Family Planning Commission，and large － scale samples surveys conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics． Nonetheless，the floating population is defined variously across data sources，creating inconsistency and incomparabilityproblems in terms of coverage and enumeration method and leading to different estimates of floating population size． This paper focuses on an in － depth understanding of the definitional complexities of floating population． We provide the documentation of specifics of statistical variables used by various bureaucracies to define floating population． We argue that the definitional complexities have originated from Chinese administrative settings in the administration of floating population． The complexities are also affected by different paces of socioeconomic reforms across regions．

Family Migration in China

Sheng Yinan

2013, 37(4):  66-79. 

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Family migration is one of the major population trends inChina． By redefining the concept and types of family migration, this paper analyzes the patterns and current status of family migration in China using data from the 2010 floating population monitoring survey. Family migration canbe broadly divided into
complete and incomplete family migration． Migration behaviors and processes are influenced by a variety of factors including economic level   and household size and structure． In familysplit migration，migration tends to be selective in family members identity，human capital and time interval of migration． The paper suggests that the government adopt supportive policy to improve the service management system for the migrant families． Specific policy measures may include promoting reform of the household registration system，and establishing the administration and service system covering the whole family life cycle and a complete range of types of migrant families．

Peri-urbanization in China

Li Aimin

2013, 37(4):  80-91. 

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Using data from the sixth population census，this paper explores the characteristics，formation mechanisms，and solution paths of peri-urbanization in China at province and prefecture level． Results show that more than 80% of the prefecture-level cities are subject to some degree of peri-urbanization．The higher the urbanization rate of permanent residents，the higher the urbanization rate of household registered population． Peri-urbanization increases from western to eastern regions，with the eastern region being of high-moderate peri-urbanization，the central region of moderate-low urbanization，and the western region of low-moderate urbanization，respectively． There is an increasing trend of peri-urbanization with the increase of the permanent residents.Among the capital cities，Shanghai has the highest peri-urbanization level，followed by Guangzhou，and Urumqi，and among the non-capital cities，Shengzhen has the highest level of peri-urbanization，followed by Dongguan.The city with lowest peri-urbanization level is Yichun．Regional development gap，household registration system，and distribution of interests are the major factors influencing peri-urbanization in China．Policies addressing peri-urbanization should be directed at promoting regional integration and development of urban and rural areas，adjusting interest allocation pattern，and deepening reforms of household registration system．

A Research on Marital Satisfaction: The Case of Shandong Province

Shen Shunfen,Lin Mingxian

2013, 37(4):  92-102. 

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This paper explores patterns and determinants of marital satisfaction using data from "The Marriage Life Satisfaction Survey"conducted by the authors in 2010 in Shandong province． Survey results show that 93% of the couples in the survey are satisfied with their marriage.Marital satisfaction varies with age，marital duration，gender，occupation，education，marital status，income，health status，values about marriage，values about sharing household chores，communication time between couples，and number of children，while communication time between couples，values about marriage，status of marriage (first marriage vs remarriage) and health status are the significant factors influencing marital satisfaction.Couples spending more time on communication and with better health are more satisfied with their marriage;first time marriage couples have higher marital satisfaction than remarried couples;couples opposing to the concept that "couples should divorce when love disappears" and agreeing with that"wife should take more responsibility of housework"，have higher marital satisfaction." Conservative" values regarding marriage and family are important determinants of higher marital satisfaction and higher stability of families in Shading Province.

Intergenerational Living Arrangement in an Aging Society:Evidence from the 2007 and 2010 Jiangsu Surveys

Wang Lei

2013, 37(4):  103-112. 

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The impact of intergenerational relation on living arrangement is examined using data from 2007 and 2010 Jiangsu Surveys． Results show that，first of all，most married children live with their parents and only 30% of them live independently，and there are more urban than rural married children living inde-pendently． Secondly，generational exchange desire increases the possibility to live together for both married children and their parents． Thirdly，the need to care grandchildren plays a bigger role in living together than the need to care parents． Changes of living arrangement are determined mainly by the condition of baby care． Changes of living arrangement has not been responding to changes of the elderly care desire． Home － living － based care for the elderly is facing challenges in this aging society．