| Biography | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Sampson Lee Blair The State University of New York (Buffalo), USA |
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| Title: Expectations for Marriage and Childbearing: Understanding the Aspirations of Young Chinese Women and Men | |
| Abstract: Young women and men in China are similar to their counterparts in other nations, wherein they need to make decisions concerning their transition into adulthood. These transitions are often of the familial variety, such as whether (and when) to marry, as well as whether to have children (including the issues of timing and number)(Lloyd, 2005). For contemporary youth, these aspirations are occurring within a time of considerable economic and cultural change. Although Chinese culture has long promoted the expectation that individuals should marry and have children, thereby continuing the lineage of their family (Qi, 2004), the combination of modernization and an accompanying emphasis upon materialism (Schwartz, 2004) have coincided with considerable shifts in intimate relationships and behaviors. Over recent years, premarital sex has increased (Higgins et al., 2002), as have cohabitation rates (Zhang, 2017). Among those who marry, the age at first marriage has increased (Feng and Quanhe, 1996), and divorce rates have been steadily rising (Chen et al., 2012). Despite recent changes to childbearing regulations, fertility rates in China have been declining (Jones, 2007). All of these shifts are, of course, directly linked to how young women and men formulate aspirations for themselves concerning marriage and childbearing. The aspirations of youth do not develop within a social vacuum, rather, they are readily influenced by cultural factors (Hynie et al., 2006) and structural factors (Paat and Hope, 2015). The linkages between aspirations and eventual adult statuses and behaviors are quite strong (Miller, 1994), and the aspirations developed during adolescence concerning marriage and childbearing have been shown to be reliable predictors of subsequent behaviors (Willoughby, 2010). Within the context of China, the various cultural and structural changes which have occurred over recent decades have affected the institution of the family. In order to better understand how marriage and childbearing patterns are likely to be in the future, it is necessary to better understand the aspirations of young women and men, as these will likely provide a fairly accurate picture of marriage and childbearing in coming years. Using data from a multi-year survey of young women and men enrolled in colleges and universities in China, this study examines the preferences and expectations concerning marriage and childbearing among young women and men. The analyses show that females and males both express a strong preference for marriage and childbearing. However, the data suggest that there is a steady shift toward aspirations for a later age at marriage, fewer numbers of births, and a later age at first birth. Both parental and peer influence are shown to affect aspirations, although these are more substantial among females, as compared to males. The findings are framed within the developmental paradigm, and the implications for future marriage and childbearing patterns in China are discussed. | |
| Biography: Dr. Sampson Lee Blair is a family sociologist and demographer at The State University of New York (Buffalo). His research focuses upon parent-child relationships, with particular emphasis on child and adolescent development. In 2010, he received the Fulbright Scholar Award from the U.S. Department of State, wherein he studied parental involvement and children’s educational attainment in the Philippines. He has examined a wide variety of relationship dynamics within families. His recent research has focused upon marriage and fertility patterns in China. He has served as chair of the Children and Youth research section of the American Sociological Association, as senior editor of Sociological Inquiry, Guest Editor of Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, and on the editorial boards of Asian Women, Journal of Applied Youth Studies, Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, Journal of Family Issues, Marriage and Family Review, Social Justice Research, Sociological Inquiry, International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, and Sociological Viewpoints. He also serves on the international advisory board of Tambara, which is based at Ateneo de Davao University, in the Philippines. In 2018, he was elected as Vice-President (North America) of the Research Committee on Youth (RC34), in the International Sociological Association. He is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and has taught abroad as a visiting professor at Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) in the Philippines, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and at East China Normal University (Shanghai) in China. Since 2011, he has served as the editor of Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research. | |
