Abstract
Using data from China Family Panel Studies 2010, we evaluate the role of the Birth Planning Policy (BPP) in altering decisions to have another child by birth parity, and the relationship of life satisfaction with the gender structure of the children of Chinese residents. We find strong positive effects of the BPP on the decision of having an additional child for Chinese residents, particularly if the previous children were girls. In spite of strong son preference in fertility behaviour, residents whose children are all daughters are found to be more satisfied with their lives than with other gender structures. The empirical findings support the view that daughters are more helpful in providing assistance to parents and in mitigating family conflicts hence increasing life satisfaction, while son preferences may be pursued reasons of lineage and hence do not result in more satisfied lives. We also find evidence that the BPP penalty might be a reason why having more sons could reduce life satisfaction.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Hainan, and Hong Kong were not included.
144 county-level units were randomly selected in the first stage; then 640 village-level units (villages in rural areas and urban communities in urban areas) were selected in the second stage; and 14,000 households at the third stage.
As a robustness check we also restrict the pre-BPP sample to women older than 40 in 1983 and men older than 45 in 1983, and the results are similar.
To examine whether such impacts are solely due to the stopping rule of the 1.5-child policy, we calculate the conditional probability of having another child for the areas without the 1.5-child policy and find that sex selection remains significant. We thank an anonymous referee for the suggestion of evaluating the impact of the 1.5-child policy.
As the sample for the pre-BPP era is relatively small (N = 1567) in the CFPS data, there is concern that the probabilities based on each birth parity may not be reliable. Therefore, we replicate the results using another dataset, the 2011-12 national baseline of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) that represents the Chinese 45 and older and has a larger sample size for the pre-BPPP period (N = 2825). The pattern of conditional probabilities is very similar to that obtained in the CFPS (the first two columns), adding more confidence to the conclusion drawn so far from the CFPS.
We thank an anonymous referee for pointing this hypothesis out and providing the two references.
References
Arnold, F., & Liu, Z. (1986). Sex preference, fertility, and family planning in China. Population and Development Review, 12(2), 221–246.
Benjamin, D. J., Kimball, M. S., Heffetz, O., & Rees-Jones, A. (2012). What do you think would make you happier? What do you think you would choose? The American Economic Review, 102(5), 2083.
Cleland, J., Verrall, J., & Vaessen, M. (1983). Preferences for the sex of children and their influence on reproductive behavior. World Fertility Survey Comparative Studies, Vol. 27, International Statistical Institute, Voorburg.
Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2002). Will money increase subjective well-being? Social Indicators Research, 57(2), 119–169.
Ding, Q. J., & Hesketh, T. (2006). Family size, fertility preferences, and sex ratio in China in the era of the one child family policy: Results from national family planning and reproductive health survey. BMJ, 333(7564), 371–373.
Ebenstein, A. (2010). The “missing girls” of China and the unintended consequences of the one child policy. Journal of Human Resources, 45(1), 87–115.
Edlund, L., Li, H., Yi, J., & Zhang, J. (2007). Sex ratios and crime: Evidence from China’s one-child policy, No. 3214. IZA Discussion Papers.
Goodkind, D. (2011). Child underreporting, fertility, and sex ratio imbalance in China. Demography, 48(1), 291–316.
Gupta, D., Monica, Z. J., Li, B., Xie, Z., Chung, W., & Hwa-Ok, B. (2003). Why is son preference so persistent in East and South Asia? A cross-country study of China, India and the Republic of Korea. The Journal of Development Studies, 40(2), 153–187.
Hardee-Cleaveland, K., & Banister, J. (1988). Fertility policy and implementation in China. Population and Development Review, 1986–88, 245–286.
Hesketh, T., Li, L., & Xing, Z. W. (2005). The effect of China’s one-child family policy after 25 years. New England Journal of Medicine, 353(11), 1171–1176.
Hesketh, T., & Xing, Z. (1997). Health in China: The one child family policy: The good, the bad, and the ugly. BMJ, 314(7095), 1685.
Hesketh, T., & Xing, Z. (2006). Abnormal sex ratios in human populations: Causes and consequences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(36), 13271–13275.
Hull, T. H. (1990). Recent trends in sex ratios at birth in China. Population and Development Review, 16(1), 63–83.
Kahneman, D., & Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(38), 16489–16493.
Li, J., & Cooney, R. S. (1993). Son preference and the one child policy in China: 1979–1988. Population Research and Policy Review, 12(3), 277–296.
Li, H., Yi, J., & Zhang, J. (2011). Estimating the effect of the one-child policy on the sex ratio imbalance in China: Identification based on the difference-in-differences. Demography, 48(4), 1535–1557.
Luther, N. Y., Feeney, G., & Zhang, W. (1990). One-child families or a baby boom? Evidence from China’s 1987 one-per-hundred survey. Population Studies, 44(2), 341–357.
Rosenzweig, M. R., & Zhang, J. (2009). Do population control policies induce more human capital investment? Twins, birth weight and china’s “one-child” policy. The Review of Economic Studies, 76(3), 1149–1174.
Short, S. E., Zhai, F., Siyuan, X., & Yang, M. (2001). China’s one-child policy and the care of children: An analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. Social Forces, 79(3), 913–943.
Stone, A. A., Schwartz, J. E., Broderick, J. E., & Deaton, A. (2010). A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(22), 9985–9990.
Strauss, J., & Thomas, D. (2007). Health over the life course. Handbook of Development Economics, 4, 3375–3474.
Stutzer, A., & Frey, B. S. (2006). Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married? The Journal of Socio-Economics, 35(2), 326–347.
World Bank. Website: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG.
Zeng, Y. (1996). Is fertility in China in 1991–92 far below replacement level? Population Studies, 50(1), 27–34.
Zeng, Y., Brasher, M. S., Gu, D., & Vaupel, J. W. (2016). Older parents benefit more in health outcome from daughters ‘than sons’ emotional care in China. Journal of Aging and Health, published online before print, January 7, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264315620591.
Zeng, Y., Tu, P., Gu, B., Xu, Y., Li, B., & Li, Y. (1993). Causes and implications of the recent increase in the reported sex ratio at birth in China. Population and Development Review, 19(2), 283–302.
Zhang, Y., & Goza, F. W. (2006). Who will care for the elderly in China? A review of the problems caused by China’s one-child policy and their potential solutions. Journal of Aging Studies, 20(2), 151–164.
Funding
This research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging, and Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71490732 and 71103004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith, J.P., Lei, X., Shen, Y. et al. Fertility, gender preference, the Birth Planning Policy and life satisfaction in China. J Pop Research 35, 23–40 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-018-9199-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-018-9199-6