Family Relations and Remarriage Postdivorce and Postwidowhood in China

Abstract

Analyzing event history data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies and 13 qualitative interviews, we examine the complex and gendered relationship between family relations and remarriage in China. Distinct roles are played by the presence of preschool , school-age and adult children in configuring the remarriage of women and men after divorce and after widowhood. The remarriage of widows but not divorcées is positively associated with the presence of parents and siblings respectively. Remarriage is more likely in the presence of large extended families. Whereas single and remarried divorcé(e)s equally provide care to their children, such care provision is less likely among remarried than single widow(er)s. Compared with their single counterparts, remarried divorcé(e)s and particularly widow(er)s are less likely to receive care from their children. We underline the importance of considering the "linked lives" of family members and comparing distinct life-course circumstances in the study of remarriage. We demonstrate that remarriage is far from an "individualized" institution, and that the state's privatization of marriage seems to reinforce the "familialization" of remarriage practices in China.

Educational and age assortative mating in China: The importance of marriage order

“…However, it is also worth noting that as the state retreated from promoting gender equality in the post-reform era (Ji et al 2017), the female labor force participation rate declined to 73% in 1990 and down to 61% in 2018 (World Bank 2018). Given the persistent employment and wage disadvantages facing women (Zhang and Hannum 2015), less well-off women may still be more likely to remarry, particularly when they have young children (Hu and To 2018). By contrast, men's socioeconomic resources may bolster their desirability in the remarriage market (Huang 2012).…”

“…Despite the changing context of remarriage described above, certain negative stigmas attached to remarriage remain. For example, Chinese parents still express serious concerns regarding the negative implications of stepfamilies for child wellbeing (Hu and To 2018). In rural areas the persistent ideal of female chastity still prevents women from remarrying (Huang 2012).…”

“…It is widely believed that patterns of assortative mating are conditional on the extent to which (re)marriage is institutionalized and stigmatized (Cherlin 2004;Kalmijn 1998;Qian and Lichter 2018;Qian and Qian 2017;Schwartz 2013). Compared to Western societies, in China the increase in remarriage is recent and remarriage tends to be strongly stigmatized (Hu and To 2018;Ma, Turunen, and Rizzi 2018). Thus, we cannot readily assume that assortative mating in remarriage will operate similarly in China and in Western contexts.…”

“…Existing research has predominantly examined marital sorting on characteristics such as education, race/ethnicity, and immigrant status, but much less is known about how age may affect assortative mating patterns (for reviews, see Blossfeld 2009;Kalmijn 1998;Schwartz 2013). Since the availability of potential spouses and individuals' marital behavior and strategy change over the life course (Hu and To 2018;Oppenheimer 1988;Rosenfeld and Thomas 2012;Qian and Preston 1993;Qian and Qian 2014), it is important to also consider the role played by age in shaping assortative mating, and how patterns of age pairing differ between first and higher-order marriages.…”

The attitudes of students to family and children: comparison of data for 2013 and 2019

“…The structural changes in the family [3,7,8], premarital cohabitation and marriage [9,10,11], the change in gender family roles [12,13], the influence of the social policy on a birth rate [1] draw attention of researchers. A special attention is paid to family values of youth [5, 6.…”