Research On The Influence Of The Attribute Of Only Child On Marital Status And Childbirth Status

While a large number of only children are entering the peak period of marriage and childbirth,phenomena such as "non-marriage","late marriage" and "late childbirth" have become commonplace.Based on the data from the 2010-2018 Chinese Family Panel Studies,this article quantitatively evaluates the impact of the only child attribute on the status of marriage and childbirth,in order to enhance the understanding of current non-traditional marriage and childbirth phenomena.This article first analyzes the differences in marital status,age at first marriage and marriage satisfaction between only children and non-only children,and further examines the transmission mechanism.Adult only children are more likely to be unmarried,but this is mainly due to their higher education level and relative income level.Consistent with this,the age of first marriage for the only children are also greater.Sub-sample regression analysis found that urban only children are more likely to be unmarried,while rural only children and urban only men are more likely to be married.In terms of marriage satisfaction,only children marriage satisfaction is lower.The negative effect of the only child attribute on marriage satisfaction is roughly equivalent to a reduction in the relative income of an individual from the fourth level to the third level(5 levels in total).Except for the urban male sample,the other sub-samples all show that only children marriage satisfaction is lower.With the gradual shifting of the age range,the difference in marital status between only children and non-only children becomes smaller,and gradually becoming only children are more likely to be married.The difference in age at first marriage becomes larger,and the difference in marriage satisfaction becomes no longer significant.There are also differences in the fertility status of only children and non-only children.Only children who are married are more likely to be in a state of childless than non-only children,and their childbearing age are also older.As the age increases,the difference in fertility status between only children and non-only children shrinks and is no longer significant,while the difference in reproductive age becomes more significant.Sub-sample regression analysis found that whether it is in urban or rural areas,only children are more likely to be in a state of childless.Among them,the only women in urban areas are more likely to be in a state of childless,and the childbearing age are also significantly older.This article further narrows the age range of observations to the robustness of the conclusions of the legal age at first marriage.The regression results still show that compared to non-only children,only children are more likely to be unmarried,but this is mainly driven by education level and relative income.The age at first marriage is older,and marriage satisfaction is lower.In terms of reproductive status,the only children are more likely to be in a non-birth state.Correspondingly,the childbearing age is older.This article may have two innovations.Firstly,there are few studies on the analysis of the attributes of only child on marriage satisfaction,and none of them control the variables of personality characteristics and cognitive ability.The growth environment of only children and non-only children is different,and the personality characteristics formed will be different.This paper draws on the research results of Li Tao and Zhang Wentao(2015),constructs a total of 14 subdivided personality characteristic variables and cognitive ability variables in five dimensions,and then strives to further scientifically draw conclusions.Secondly,the existing literature pays more attention to urban only children.Compared with urban only children born under the “one-child” policy,rural only children are more of an independent choice by parents of childbearing age.The dual structure of urban and rural areas with Chinese characteristics makes them different in their growth environment.It is necessary to conduct detailed research on the rural only children.