A Case Study On The Changing Logic Of Rural Fertility Willingness Since The Founding Of The People’s Republic Of China From The Perspective Of Rational Choice

With the development of modern society,especially the social changes brought by marketization and rationalization,the reproductive age group’s reproduction wishes gradually transformed and China fell into the low fertility trap.Most of the research on reproduction wishes focuses on the definition and measurement of reproduction wishes,the change pattern of reproduction wishes and the influence factors of reproduction wishes.Regarding the definition and measurement of reproduction wishes,scholars generally believe that reproduction wishes are the attitudes,expectations or perceptions of the reproductive age group toward childbearing,and the number of children and sex of children are the main dimensions of reproduction wishes.In terms of the changing pattern of reproduction wishes,scholars generally believe that the number of desired children has been decreasing and gender preference of the reproductive age group has been optimizing over time.As for the studies on factors influencing reproduction wishes,scholars have focused on socio-cultural,economic income and educational attainment factors.Reproductive wishes are an intricate conceptual system.The reproductive age group’s choice of reproduction is not influenced by only a single unilateral factor,but reflects both the constraints of macro social structures such as reproductive culture and population policies,and the rational choice of the reproductive age group based on their own situation and cost-benefit analysis of reproduction.The rational choice theory can be used to realize the binary interaction between individual actors and the social structure.Therefore,this paper adopts a qualitative research method to analyze the change logic of reproduction wishes in rural areas in China since the founding of the PRC by combining the macro social structure of reproduction with the micro reproductive age group using rational choice theory as a framework.This paper divides the rational logic of reproduction wishes of the reproductive age group in Zhao Zhuang since the founding of the PRC into three stages using the timeline as the axis.In the first stage,from the beginning of the founding of the country to the 1970 s,the reproduction wishes of the reproductive age group in Zhao Zhuang were characterized by many birth and preference for sons in terms of number and gender,respectively.The rational choice logic they followed was survival rationality,i.e.,based on external livelihood pressure and the structural constraints of traditional reproductive culture.In the second stage,from the 1980 s to the early twenty-first century,the reproductive wishes of the reproductive age group in Zhao Zhuang were characterized by fewer children for a few families and an extreme preference for male children in terms of number and gender,respectively.The rational choice logic they followed was economic rationality.In order words,the reproductive age group took into account the culture of reproduction and the family planning system,and carefully calculated the costs(economic and non-economic)of having and raising children in order to maximize the benefits of reproduction.In the third stage,from the beginning of the 21 st century to the present,the reproductive wishes of the reproductive age group in Zhao Zhuang showed fewer children for most families and optimized gender structurein terms of number and gender,respectively.The rational choice they followed was social rationality.In other words,the reproductive age group pursues the satisfaction or satisfactory solution of child-bearing based on full consideration of various social factors and personal factors.By studying the changes of reproduction wishes in Zhaozhuang since the founding of the PRC,this paper argues that the changes of reproduction wishes in rural China since the founding of the PRC reflect the changes of rational logic.Specifically,they mainly followed the logical sequence from the dominance of survival rationality to the rise of economic rationality to the prominence of social rationality.In addition,the institutional norms of reproduction and individual rational choices have jointly driven the changes of reproduction wishes in rural areas.A study on the rational choices of reproduction wishes at different stages since the founding of the PRC can,on the one hand,build a localized approach to the study of reproduction wishes,respond to the development needs of research on the local reproduction wishes,and enrich the studies on reproduction wishes in China.On the other hand,it can help to respond to the current situation that reproduction wishes in rural areas in China are continuously decreasing and find the obstacles behind the low reproduction wishes of people of reproductive age,so as to contribute to the improvement of reproduction wishes and fertility rate in rural areas in China.