Marriage and fertility in China: a graphical analysis.

Data from China's 1982 one-in-a-thousand fertility survey are used to construct contour maps of Chinese marriage and fertility. They offer a panoramic view of the interaction of age, period, and cohort variations. The maps display long-term trends over the last three decades: an upward shift of about four years in age at marriage and dramatic fertility declines, especially before age 20 and after age 30. They also reveal the substantial impact of disruptions such as that associated with the Great Leap Forward. Two striking regularities persist: marriage remains virtually universal by age 35 and fertility among married women under age 26 remains as high as it has been over the last 30 to 40 years.-from Authors

Duke Scholars

Author Yi Zeng Medicine, Geriatrics

Author Anatoli I. Yashin Social Science Research Institute