Premarital Pregnancies in China: Trends and Determinants

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 10. Gender Equality, Women's Education, and Family in China and Taiwan

Abstract

Increased prevalence of premarital pregnancy is thought to be a key indicator of family change in East Asian societies. Drawing on retrospective data on women’s pregnancy histories collected in 2016, we investigate prevalence, trends, and factors associated with premarital pregnancy in China. Overall, 12% of Chinese married women born between the 1970s and the 1990s have experienced at least one premarital pregnancy. Women in more recent cohorts are more likely than their counterparts born in the 1970s to have premarital pregnancies. Moreover, the cohort trend toward increased premarital pregnancies is largely because women with very low levels of education are increasingly more likely to have premarital pregnancies across cohorts. The diverging patterns of premarital pregnancy challenge the second demographic transition perspective that attributes family change in low-fertility countries to ideational change and the diffusion of innovative attitudes and behaviors from more advantaged groups to others. The findings suggest that in the midst of the sexual revolution and drastic social change in China, there has been a growing social divide between those with very low levels of education and those with more education. With the growing diversity in Chinese families, more research should be devoted to investigating whether people follow different trajectories depending on their class position and what the consequences are for children, family, and social inequality.

Authors

• Yue Qian, University of British Columbia

• Yongai Jin, Renmin University of China