IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joprea/v39y2022i2d10.1007_s12546-022-09282-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Children and marital dissolution in China

Author

Listed:
  • Kim Qinzi Xu

    (ANU)

Abstract

Using data for women from the 2010, 2012 and 2014 Chinese Family Panel Studies, this study investigated several aspects of children’s effects on the risk of marital dissolution, including the number of children, their age and sex composition, and the timing of conception relative to marriage. Because these explanatory variables are potentially endogenous, marital dissolution was jointly modelled with the processes of marriage formation, marital childbearing and nonmarital childbearing, and the sequencing of events and unobserved correlation across processes accounted for. The results demonstrated that childlessness significantly elevates the risk of divorce whereas the first child has the strongest marriage stabilising effect. Reflecting the strong son preference in rural China, having boys was shown to markedly reduce the risk of parental divorce among rural women. Whether a child is conceived within or out of wedlock has no significant causal effect on marital dissolution insofar as it belongs to both parents. However, positive residual correlation between the processes of divorce and nonmarital childbearing suggests the potential selection of women with non-traditional family behaviours into marital dissolution.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Qinzi Xu, 2022. "Children and marital dissolution in China," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 233-255, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:39:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s12546-022-09282-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s12546-022-09282-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12546-022-09282-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12546-022-09282-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kelly Musick, 2007. "Cohabitation, nonmarital childbearing, and the marriage process," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 16(9), pages 249-286.
    2. Michael Brien & Lee Lillard & Linda Waite, 1999. "Interrelated family-building behaviors: Cohabitation, marriage, and nonmarital conception," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 535-551, November.
    3. Sun, Ang & Zhao, Yaohui, 2016. "Divorce, abortion, and the child sex ratio: The impact of divorce reform in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 53-69.
    4. Lee Lillard & Linda Waite, 1993. "A joint model of marital childbearing and marital disruption," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(4), pages 653-681, November.
    5. Pau Baizán & Arnstein Aassve & Francesco C. Billari, 2003. "Cohabitation, Marriage, and First Birth: The Interrelationship of Family Formation Events in Spain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 147-169, June.
    6. Gunnar Andersson, 1997. "The Impact of Children on Divorce Risks of Swedish Women," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 109-145, June.
    7. Yi Zeng & T. Paul Schultz & Deming D. Wang & Danan Gu, 2002. "Association of Divorce with Socio-Demographic Covariates in China, 1955-1985," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 7(11), pages 407-432.
    8. Becker, Gary S & Landes, Elisabeth M & Michael, Robert T, 1977. "An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(6), pages 1141-1187, December.
    9. Lorenzo Todesco, 2011. "A Matter of Number, Age or Marriage? Children and Marital Dissolution in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(2), pages 313-332, April.
    10. Andrew Cherlin, 1977. "The effect of children on marital dissolution," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 14(3), pages 265-272, August.
    11. Jia Yu & Yu Xie, 2015. "Cohabitation in China: Trends and Determinants," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(4), pages 607-628, December.
    12. Lillard, Lee A., 1993. "Simultaneous equations for hazards : Marriage duration and fertility timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1-2), pages 189-217, March.
    13. William Axinn & Arland Thornton, 1992. "The relationship between cohabitation and divorce: Selectivity or causal influence?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 29(3), pages 357-374, August.
    14. Tim Heaton, 1990. "Marital stability throughout the child-rearing years," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(1), pages 55-63, February.
    15. Dawn Upchurch & Lee Lillard & Constantijn Panis, 2002. "Nonmarital childbearing: Influences of education, marriage, and fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 39(2), pages 311-329, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lorenzo Todesco, 2011. "A Matter of Number, Age or Marriage? Children and Marital Dissolution in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(2), pages 313-332, April.
    2. Michelle Sheran Sylvester, 2007. "The Career and Family Choices of Women: A Dynamic Analysis of Labor Force Participation, Schooling, Marriage and Fertility Decisions," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(3), pages 367-399, July.
    3. Bellido, Héctor & Molina, José Alberto & Solaz, Anne & Stancanelli, Elena, 2016. "Do children of the first marriage deter divorce?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 15-31.
    4. Julia Mikolai & Ann Berrington & Brienna Perelli-Harris, 2018. "The role of education in the intersection of partnership transitions and motherhood in Europe and the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(27), pages 753-794.
    5. Aiva Jasilioniene, 2007. "Premarital conception and divorce risk in Russia in light of the GGS data," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2007-025, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    6. Francesca Marchetta & David E. Sahn, 2016. "The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 369-403.
    7. Maria Winkler-Dworak & Eva Beaujouan & Paola Di Giulio & Martin Spielauer, 2019. "Simulating Family Life Courses: An Application for Italy, Great Britain, and Scandinavia," VID Working Papers 1908, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    8. Leone, Tiziana & Hinde, Andrew, 2007. "Fertility and union dissolution in Brazil: an example of multi-process modelling using the Demographic and Health Survey calendar data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 14701, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Arnstein Aassve & Simon Burgess & Carol Propper & Matt Dickson, 2006. "Employment, family union and childbearing decisions in Great Britain," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 169(4), pages 781-804, October.
    10. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Education and the Transition to Fatherhood: The Role of Selection Into Union," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 119-144, February.
    11. Svarer, Michael & Verner, Mette, "undated". "Do Children Stabilize Marriages?," Economics Working Papers 2003-3, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    12. Maria Winkler-Dworak & Eva Beaujouan & Paola Di Giulio & Martin Spielauer, 2021. "Simulating family life courses: An application for Italy, Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(1), pages 1-48.
    13. Arieke J. Rijken & Aart C. Liefbroer, 2009. "The Influence of Partner Relationship Quality on Fertility," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 27-44, February.
    14. Nicoletta Balbo & Nicola Barban & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Friend and peer effects on entry into marriage and parenthood: A multiprocess approach," Working Papers 056, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    15. Joshua D. Angrist, 2004. "Treatment effect heterogeneity in theory and practice," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(494), pages 52-83, March.
    16. Arnstein Aassve & Simon Burgess & Matt Dickson & Carol Propper, 2005. "Modelling Poverty by not Modelling Poverty: An Application of a Simultaneous Hazards Approach to the UK," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 05/134, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    17. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    18. Magdalena M. Muszynska, 2006. "Woman’s employment and union disruption in a changing socio-economic context: the case of Russia," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-027, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    19. Elina Vinberg & Rannveig Kaldager Hart & Torkild H. Lyngstad, 2015. "Increasingly stable or more stressful? Children and union dissolution across four decades Evidence from Norway," Discussion Papers 814, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    20. Roberta Rutigliano & Gøsta Esping-Andersen, 2018. "Partnership Choice and Childbearing in Norway and Spain," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 367-386, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:39:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s12546-022-09282-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.