Fertility declines and gender inequality in China, 1970-2010
This paper explores the consequences of the recent dramatic fertility decline in China by examining the effects of sibship size and composition on inequality in socioeconomic achievement between men and women. Drawing primarily from the China General Social Survey, the authors’ findings suggest that women from families with more siblings are more disadvantaged both in terms of their schooling and their job status.
The abstract is available here. This research is part of a series of empirical studies from the Fertility and Empowerment Network, which is examining whether and to what extent increasingly smaller family sizes in lower and middle income countries have empowered women or resulted in fundamental transformations in inequitable gender systems.