Village Context, Women's Status, and Son Preference Among Rural Chinese Women*

Abstract

This study analyzes the variation in one measure of son preference that is of particular relevance in rural China: whether a woman considers it important to have a son, and the reasons why sons are important. To summarize our conclusions, we find that the expectation that a son will provide financial support in old age is strongly associated with the response that a son is important. This expectation is stronger in low income and mountainous villages, but it is weaker among women who earn cash income. The importance of a son is positively associated with ancestor worship and negatively associated with respondents' education, personal autonomy, the extent to which the husband shares housework, and exposure to the world beyond the village. We also find that sex-specific rates of infant mortality vary systematically with mother's response on the importance of a son, providing a test of the validity of our preference measure.A preference for sons is a feature of patrilineal, joint family systems typical in much of East

Female Migration, Cultural Context, and Son Preference in Rural China

“…Because older generations may have important influence over the preferences of younger adults, and because maintaining a multigenerational family may itself indicate adherence to patrilineal arrangements ideals (Attané 2009), son preference may be stronger in families where adults coreside with their parents or parents-in-law. We further adjust for the size of families' arable landholdings, which may be associated with stronger son preference because more land requires more labor (Li and Lavely 2003).…”

“…Married people may be more likely to express stronger son preference due to the influence of patrilineal marriage norms. Whether the respondent has any male children may also be closely associated with son preference because people may not be willing to express a value inconsistent with reality (Li and Lavely 2003). Religion is measured by respondent's religious affiliation.…”

“…Such practices reinforce the influence of traditional gender norms by reminding performers of filial obligations to carry on the family line. Empirical studies find that individuals in families that engage in these practices hold stronger son preference (Li and Lavely 2003;Murphy et al 2011).…”

Still under the ancestors' shadow? Ancestor worship and family formation in contemporary China

“…To date, only a very limited number of studies have asked this question, and even these few works, to the best of our knowledge, do not try to directly measure ancestor worship practices (e.g., Jin, Li, and Feldman 2007;Lee and Wang 1999;Li and Lavely 2003). Moreover, these studies mostly focus on son preference, so we know surprisingly little about how ancestor worship is intertwined with other aspects of family formation such as marriage and childbearing.…”

“…Previous studies of ancestor worship mostly cover one particular aspect of parenthood as an indicator of son preference: the sex composition of the children (e.g., Almond, Edlund, and Milligan 2013;Guilmoto 2012;Jin, Li, and Feldman 2007;Lee and Wang 1999;Li and Lavely 2003). The potential correlations between ancestor worship and the other aspects of family formation are still unclear, and are examined in this study.…”