The impact of children on divorce risk
Tóm tắt
Based on the data of the first wave of the Chinese Family Panel Study in 2010, this paper studies the relationship of divorce risk and four variables related to children in China: premarital births and number, age, and gender of children. We find that all four variables have significant effects on divorce risk. Specifically, (1) couples who have premarital children are more likely to divorce; (2) the higher the number of children, the more stable the marriage, but the marginal effect declines with the increase of the number of children; (3) younger children reduce the risk of divorce more than older ones; and (4) couples who have sons are less likely to divorce. All these findings are consistent with studies conducted in other countries and suggest that children play an important role in stabilizing marriage and resolving conflicts in marriage. We also find that the positive effect of children on marital stability and the effect of children’s gender are stronger in rural areas, which is due to the differences in modernization and cultural values between rural and urban areas. These findings imply that changes in marriage values and the decline of the fertility rate are two important causes of the recent increase of the divorce rate in China.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Allison, Paul D. 1995. Survival analysis using the SAS system: a practical guide. Cary, NC: SAS Publishing.
Andersson, G. 1997. The impact of children on divorce risks of Swedish women. European Journal of Population 13(2):109–145.
Andersson, Gunnar, and Gebremariam Woldemicael. 2001. Sex composition of children as a determinant of marriage disruption and marriage formation: evidence from Swedish Register Data. Journal of Population Research 18, no. 2:143–153.
Becker, Gary S. 1973. A theory of the allocation of time. Economic Journal 81: 813–847.
Becker, Gary S, Elizabeth Landes, and Robert T Michael. 1977. An economic analysis of marital instability. Journal of Political Economy 85(6):1141–1187.
Belsky, J, GB Spanier, and M Ravine. 1983. Stability and change in marriage across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family 45: 567–577.
Bracher, M, G Santow, SR Morgan, and J Trussell. 1993. Marriage dissolution in Australia: models and explanations. Population Studies 47:403–425.
Cherlin, Andrew. 1977. The effect of children on marital dissolution. Demography 14: 265–272.
Coppola, L, and M Di Cesare. 2008. How fertility and union stability interact in shaping new family patterns in Italy and Spain. Demographic Research 18(4):117–144.
Diekmann, Anddreas, and Kurt Schmidheiny. 2004. Do parents of girls have a higher risk of divorce? An eighteen-country study. Journal of Marriage and Family 66:651–660.
Durkheim, Emile. 2000. De La Division Du Travail Social. Trans. DongQu. Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing.
Fei, Xiaotong. 1999. The institutions for reproduction. Beijing: Shangwu Press.
Freedman, Deborah, and Arland Thornton. 1979. The long-term impact of pregnancy at marriage on the family’s economic circumstances. Family Planning Perspectives 11(1):6–21.
Furstenberg Jr, FF, Christine Winquist Nord, James L Peterson, and Zill Nicholas. 1983. The life course of children of divorce: marital disruption and parental contact. American Sociological Review 48(5):656–667.
Glenn, ND, and Sara Mclanahan. 1982. Children and marital happiness: a further specification of the relationship. Journal of Marriage and Family 44: 63–72.
Goode, WJ. 1993. World changes in divorce patterns. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.
Guo, Zhigang. 2004. Studies and discussion on China’s fertility level in the 1990s. Population Research No. 2: 10–19.
Heaton, Tim B. 1990. Marital stability throughout the child-rearing years. Demography 27, no. 1:55–63.
Hoem, B, and JM Hoem. 1992. Disruption of marital and non-marital unions in Sweden. In Demographic applications of event history analysis, ed. J Trussell, R Hankinson, and J Tilton, 61–84. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hoffman, LW, and JD Manis. 1978. Influences of children on marital interaction and parental satisfactions and dissatisfactions. In Child influences on marital and family interaction: a life-span perspective, ed. R Lehnerand and GB Spanier, 165–213. New York: Academic Press.
Institute of Population and Labor Economics, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 2010. Almanac of China’s Population 2010. Beijing: Economic and Management Press.
Jalovaara, M. 2001. Socio-economic status and divorce in first marriages in Finland: 1991–1993. Population Studies 55(2):119–133.
Katzev, Aphra R, Rebecca L Warner, and Alan C Acock. 1994. Girls or boys? Relationship of child gender to marital instability. Journal of Marriage and Family 56(1):89–100.
Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde. 2004. The impact of parents’ and spouses’ education on divorce rates in Norway. Demographic Research 10:119–142.
McLanahan, Sara, and Larry Bumpass. 1988. Intergenerational consequences of family disruption. American Journal of Sociology 94(1):130–152.
Morgan, SPhilip, Diane N Lye, and Gretchen A Condran. 1988. Sons, daughters, and the risk of marital disruption. American Journal of Sociology 94(1):110–129.
Rollins, BC, and R Galligan. 1978. The developing child and marital satisfaction of parents. In Child influences on marital and family interaction: a life-span perspective, ed. R Lehner and GB Spanier, 71–105. New York: Academic Press.
Teachman, Jay D, and Alex Heckert. 1985. The impact of age and children on remarriage. Journal of Family Issues 6(2):185–203.
Thornton, Arland. 1977. Children and marital stability. Journal of Marriage and Family 39(3):531–540.
Tzeng, J, and RD Mare. 1995. Labour market and socio-economic effect on marital stability. Social Science Research 24:329–351.
Udry, JRichard. 1971. The social context of marriage, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company.
Vignoli, Daniele, and Irene Ferro. 2009. Rising marital disruption in Italy and its correlates. Demographic Research 20:11–36.
Waite, Linda J, and Lee A Lillard. 1991. Children and marital disruption. American Journal of Sociology 96(4):930–953.
Weiss, Y, and RJ Willis. 1997. Match quality, new information and marital dissolution. Journal of Labor Economics 15:S293–S329.
White, LK. 1990. Determinants of divorce: a review of research in the eighties. Journal of Marriage and Family 52:904–912.
Worthington, EJ, and BG Buston. 1986. The marriage relationship during transition to parenthood: a review and a model. Journal of Family Issues 7:443–473.
Wu, Deqing. 1999. Status quo and trend of divorce in contemporary China. Beijing: Cultural Relics Press.
Xie, Yu. 2006. Sociological methodology and quantitative research. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.
Ye, Wenzhen, and Qingguo Lin. 1998. Analysis of trend and cause of divorce in contemporary China. Population and Economics No. 3:22–28.
Zeng, Yi. 1995. Studies of divorce in China in the 1980s. Beijing: Peking University Press.