Please register for the webinar here

Abstract

The Chinese family has been undergoing a rapid transition in the past few decades, with many of its traditional functions and practices fundamentally changed. We find that union formation in China has trended increasingly towards patterns commonly observed in the West, including delayed ages of marriage and common practices of premarital cohabitation. Despite below-replacement fertility, childlessness remains rare among married Chinese couples. In addition, almost all children are born and raised within marriage, with a virtual absence of nonmarital childbearing in China. Although we observe a slight increase in divorce across cohorts, the divorce rate within 10 years in China was much lower than in other East Asian societies. Our research suggests that the Chinese family has been changed by modernization and economic development, but it is still influenced by a Confucian culture.

About the Speaker

Prof. Yu Xie is Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Sociology and PIIRS at Princeton University. His main areas of interest are social stratification, demography, statistical methods, Chinese studies, and sociology of science. Xie joined the faculty Aug. 1 after 26 years at the University of Michigan, most recently as the Otis Dudley Duncan Distinguished University Professor of Sociology, Statistics and Public Policy and a research professor in the Population Studies Center at Michigan's Institute for Social Research. Xie's main areas of interest are social stratification, demography, statistical methods, Chinese studies and sociology of science. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia Sinica and the National Academy of Sciences.His recently published works include: Marriage and Cohabitation (University of Chicago Press 2007) with Arland Thornton and William Axinn, Statistical Methods for Categorical Data Analysis with Daniel Powers (Emerald 2008, second edition), and Is American Science in Decline? (Harvard University Press, 2012) with Alexandra Killewald. Xie earned his bachelor’s degree at Shanghai University of Technology, and two master’s degrees and a doctoral degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

About the Chair

Prof. Patricia Uberoi is currently Honorary Fellow and Chairperson of the Institute of Chinese Studies (Delhi). She has long been engaged in research on family, kinship, marriage, gender and sexuality, and on aspects of popular culture and social policy, in reference to both India and China. Some of her well-known books include: Family, Kinship and Marriage in India (ed., 1993); Social Reform, Sexuality and the State (ed.,1996); Freedom and Destiny: Gender, Family and Popular Culture in India (2006); Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian Sociology and Anthropology (co-ed., 2007); Rise of the Asian Giants: Dragon-Elephant Tango (ed., 2008); Marriage, Migration and Gender (co-ed., 2008); and India’s North East States, the BCIM Forum and Regional Integration (with Kishan S. Rana, 2012). In collaboration with Professor Emiko Ochiai (Kyoto University), she is presently involved in the production of a series of books under the general title of Asian Families and Intimacies and comprising papers that are mostly newly translated from various Asian languages (forthcoming, 2021).