Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Work Patterns Following a Birth in Urban and Rural China: A Longitudinal Study

  • Published:
European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Two waves of data (1989 and 1991) from theChina Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) areused to investigate the short-term impact of abirth on women's work patterns. Defining workbroadly in terms of involvement inincome-earning activities in general, birthshave little impact. Defining work in terms ofwage employment, births have a significantalthough modest negative effect. Substituting amore fully elaborated typology of work patternsthat distinguishes different combinations ofwage work, work in household businesses, andagricultural fieldwork makes it possible tolook at shifts within as well as betweencategories of wage and non-wage employment.These shifts turn out to be important,especially in rural areas where such workpredominates. In this study, the effect of abirth depends on how work is conceptualized andmeasured. Some of the contextual variability inthe strength of the fertility-work relationshipreported in the literature may be due to theparticular measures of work that have beenused, which better reflect the time demands,intensity, flexibility, and location of work inurban industrialized settings than in rural,less industrialized ones.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agadjanian, V., 2000. ‘Women's work and fertility in a sub-Saharan urban setting: a social environment approach'. Journal of Biosocial Science 32: 17–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anker, R. and Hein, C., 1985. ‘Why Third World urban employers usually prefer men'. International Labour Review 124: 73–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bian, Y., Logan, J. R. and Shu, X., 2000. ‘Wage and job inequalities in the working lives of men and women in Tianjin', in B. Entwisle and G. E. Henderson (eds.), Redrawing Boundaries: Work, Households, and Gender in China. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, C. A., 1994. ‘The impact of children on the labour supply of married women: comparative estimates from European and U.S. data'. European Journal of Population 10: 293–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casterline, J. B., Williams, L. and McDonald, P., 1986. ‘The age difference between spouses, variations among developing countries'. Population Studies 40: 353–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • China State Statistical Bureau, 1990. China Statistical Yearbook 1989. Beijing, China: China Statistical Information and Consultancy Service Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • China Facts and Figures Annual, 1989. Gulf Breeze, Fla: Academic International Press.

  • Connelly, R., 1992. ‘Self-employment and providing child care'. Demography 29: 17–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connelly, R., DeGraff, D. S. and Levison, D., 1996. ‘Women's employment and child care in Brazil'. Economic Development and Cultural Change 44: 619–649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooney, R. S. and Li, J., 1994. ‘Household registration type and compliance with the ‘one child’ policy in China, 1979–1988'. Demography 31: 21–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramer, J. C., 1980. ‘Fertility and female employment: problems of causal direction'. American Sociological Review 45: 167–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai, S. and Jain, D., 1994. ‘Maternal employment and changes in family dynamics: the social context of women's work in rural south India'. Population and Development Review 20: 115–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai, S. and Waite, L. J., 1991. ‘Women's employment during pregnancy and after the first birth: occupational characteristics and work commitment'. American Sociological Review 56: 551–566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donahoe, D. A., 1999. ‘Women's work and fertility in Egypt: an application of an expanded work typology'. Population and Development Review 25: 543–576.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyson, T. and Moore, M., 1983. ‘On kinship structure, female autonomy, and demographic behavior in India'. Population and Development Review 9: 35–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glass, Jennifer, L. and Riley, L., 1998. ‘Family responsive policies and employee retention following childbirth'. Social Forces 76: 1401–1435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenhalgh, S., Zhu, C. and Li, N., 1994. ‘Restraining population growth in three Chinese villages, 1988–1993'. Population and Development Review 20: 365–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, T., 1989. ‘Human capital, marital and birth timing, and the postnatal labor force participation of married women'. Journal of Family Issues 10: 359–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson, S. S., Wetzels, C. M., Vlasblom, J. D. and Dex, S., 1996. ‘Women's labor force transitions in connection with childbirth: a panel data comparison between Germany, Sweden and Great Britain'. Journal of Population Economics 9: 223–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isvan, N. A., 1991. ‘Productive and reproductive decisions in Turkey: the role of domestic bargaining'. Journal of Marriage and the Family 53: 57–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacka, T., 1990. ‘Back to the work: women and employment in Chinese industry in the 1980s'. Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs 24: 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacka, T., 1997. Women's Work in Rural China: Change and Continuity in an Era of Reform. Hong Kong: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshi, H., Macran, S. and Dex, S., 1996. ‘Employment after childbearing and women's subsequent labor force participation: evidence from the British 1958 birth cohort'. Journal of Population Economics 9: 325–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klerman, J. A. and Leibowitz, A., 1999. ‘Job continuity among new mothers'. Demography 36: 145–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, J., 1995. ‘China's one-child policy: how and how well has it worked? A case study of Hebei province, 1979–1988'. Population and Development Review 21: 563–585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, C., 1991. ‘The contribution of the world fertility surveys to an understanding of the relationship between women's work and fertility'. Studies in Family Planning 22: 144–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, K. O. and Palan, V. T., 1981. ‘Female employment and fertility in Peninsular Malaysia: the maternal role incompatibility hypothesis reconsidered'. Demography 18: 549–575.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, S. D., 1982. ‘Differential patterns of female labor force participation surrounding the first birth'. Journal of Marriage and Family 44: 407–420

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, S. P. and Niraula, B. B., 1995. ‘Gender inequality and fertility in two Nepali villages'. Population and Development Review 21: 541–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poston, D. L and Gu, B., 1987. ‘Socioeconomic development, family planning, and fertility in China'. Demography 24: 531–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Presser, H. B., 1989. ‘Can we make time for children? The economy, work schedules, and child care'. Demography 26: 523–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rindfuss, R. R. and Brewster, K.L., 1996. ‘Childrearing and fertility', in J. B. Casterline, R. D. Lee and K. A. Foote (eds), Fertility in the Unites States: New Patterns, New Theories. Population and Development Review. A supplement to Volume 22, 1996. New York: The Population Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, D. and Tambashe, B. O., 1994. ‘The impact of women's employment and education on contraceptive use and abortion in Kinshasa Zaire'. Studies in Family Planning 25: 96–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. K., 1981. ‘Women's work, fertility, and competing time use in Mexico City'. Research in Population Economics 3: 167–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • State Family Planning Commission, 1997. 1992 National Fertility and Family Planning Survey, China. Selected Research Papers in English. The World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Perinatal Care and Health Services Research in Maternal and Child Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stycos, J. M. and Weller, R.J., 1967. ‘Female working roles and fertility'. Demography 4: 210–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiano, S., 1984. ‘The public-private dichotomy: theoretical perspectives on women in development'. Social Science Journal 21: 11–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiefenthaler, J., 1997. ‘Fertility and family time allocation in the Philippines'. Population and Development Review 23: 377–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weller, R. H., 1984. ‘The gainful employment of females and fertility - with special reference to rural areas of developing countries', in W. A. Schutjer and C. S. Stokes (eds), Rural Development and Human Fertility pp. 151–171 New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whyte, M. K. and Parish, W. L., 1984. Urban Life in Contemporary China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, R. and Levine, R. E., 1992. ‘The effect of household structure on women's economic activity and fertility: evidence from recent mothers in urban Mexico'. Economic Development and Cultural Change 41: 89–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • WuDunn, S., 1992. ‘With focus on profits, China revives bias against women'. New York Times July 28, 1992, pp. A1, A6.

  • Zeng, Y., Tu, P., Guo, L. and Xie, Y., 1991. ‘A demographic decomposition of the recent increase in crude birth rates in China'. Population and Development Review 17: 435–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeng, Y., 1996. ‘Is fertility in China in 1991–1992 far below replacement level?’ Population Studies 50: 27–34.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, CB #3210, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3210, USA

    Barbara Entwisle

  2. Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77845-4351, USA

    Feinian Chen

Authors
  1. Barbara Entwisle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Feinian Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Entwisle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Entwisle, B., Chen, F. Work Patterns Following a Birth in Urban and Rural China: A Longitudinal Study. European Journal of Population 18, 99–119 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015507114559

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015507114559

Search

Navigation