The Preeminent Role of Government Intervention in China's Family Revolution

Abstract

This article argues that changes in family patterns in China are largely a result of direct government intervention rather than an inevitable byproduct of industrialization urbanization and other forms of modern social change. The author bases his argument on temporal trends and regional variations in fertility and marriage. The data indicate a close correlation between abrupt shifts in the fertility rate and reversals in official population policy. For example there was a sharp decline in fertility in 1962-67 when the Government implemented the 1st of its population control policies a sharp rise in 1968 when such efforts were undercut by the chaos of the initial year of the Cultural Revolution and a dramatic decline when the birth control program was reimplemented in 1970. A similar pattern can be observed for 1st marriage rates. Urban and rural fertility and marriage rates have varied in unison a pattern that would not be found if modernization were the driving force behind demographic trends. Further support for the authors hypothesis was provided by 2481 fertility histories given by 580 women in 7 communities (Peking Fukien Chekiang Kiangsu Shantung Shensi and Szechwan) covering the 1940-79 period. Low fertility rates were noted in field sites where the commune leadership was particularly committed to implementing birth control even under conditions of extreme economic underdevelopment. The success of the Chinese birth control program seems attributable to 2 factors: 1) the great prestige of the central government and 2) penetration of village society by the national bureaucracy. Moreover it seems likely that this successful experience can only be replicated in other countries by replicating Chinas social structure.