Life Course and Family Dynamics in a Comparative Perspective
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Sociology
Abstract
Important social changes are taking place in both China and Europe. They present the two regions with some common challenges, including rising economic inequality, heightened migration, regional imbalance and population ageing.
What are the implications of these social changes for the life course of individuals and families? China and Europe do have different histories, social institutions and cultural traditions. Do they create different kinds of risks, vulnerabilities and opportunities for their citizens? What can Chinese and European scholars, policy-makers and other stakeholders learn from each other's experiences as they formulate policy responses to the common challenges confronting them.
In this project, we use recent, high quality, large-scale and nationally representative household survey data to explore the experience of individuals and families in China, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Moreover, because all respondents of these surveys have been followed through the years and were interviewed multiple times, we gain a deeper insight into how their experiences change over time.
We focus on the key issues that confront people at four stages of their life: (1) child development and schooling, (2) transition to adulthood, (3) security and well-being in middle life, and (4) intergenerational support and well-being in later life.
This project will produce harmonised and fully documented data sets which will be deposited in an international data archive. This will become a key international data resource for scholars and policy-makers who wish to understand the changing population and family dynamics in China and Europe.
In addition, a number of doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars will receive training in this project. These junior scholar as well as the senior scholars of the project will work closely together, fostering Chinese and European collaboration in research on understanding population change.
What are the implications of these social changes for the life course of individuals and families? China and Europe do have different histories, social institutions and cultural traditions. Do they create different kinds of risks, vulnerabilities and opportunities for their citizens? What can Chinese and European scholars, policy-makers and other stakeholders learn from each other's experiences as they formulate policy responses to the common challenges confronting them.
In this project, we use recent, high quality, large-scale and nationally representative household survey data to explore the experience of individuals and families in China, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Moreover, because all respondents of these surveys have been followed through the years and were interviewed multiple times, we gain a deeper insight into how their experiences change over time.
We focus on the key issues that confront people at four stages of their life: (1) child development and schooling, (2) transition to adulthood, (3) security and well-being in middle life, and (4) intergenerational support and well-being in later life.
This project will produce harmonised and fully documented data sets which will be deposited in an international data archive. This will become a key international data resource for scholars and policy-makers who wish to understand the changing population and family dynamics in China and Europe.
In addition, a number of doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars will receive training in this project. These junior scholar as well as the senior scholars of the project will work closely together, fostering Chinese and European collaboration in research on understanding population change.
Planned Impact
The proposed research will inform public debates on many social challenges that are facing China and Europe, e.g., rising inequality, increased migration, regional imbalance, and population ageing. Because we cover almost the entire range of the life course in this project (from child development and education, through the transition to adulthood, and the middle life, to intergenerational exchange and well being in later life), our research should be of interest to a wide range of government departments and non-governmental organisations.
For example, in the UK alone, our work on social mobility and on the inequalities in child development and educational attainment would be of interest to the Sutton Trust, the UK Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, and the Department for Education. Similarly, our work on later life well being and intergenerational support would be of interest to organisations such as AgeUK and Grandparents Plus. We will actively make contacts with these organisations, and their counterparts in China, Germany and the Netherlands.
The findings of this project will also be relevant to organisations that are interested in Europe--China relationship in general, such as the Great Britain China Centre. Our project will also speak to international organisations that are concerned with cross-national population issues, such as the Population Unit of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
By publicising the emerging research findings of our project through the media, members of the general public might also benefit from a better understanding of some of the common population issues facing both regions, and the similarities and differences of the policy responses in China and Europe.
For example, in the UK alone, our work on social mobility and on the inequalities in child development and educational attainment would be of interest to the Sutton Trust, the UK Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, and the Department for Education. Similarly, our work on later life well being and intergenerational support would be of interest to organisations such as AgeUK and Grandparents Plus. We will actively make contacts with these organisations, and their counterparts in China, Germany and the Netherlands.
The findings of this project will also be relevant to organisations that are interested in Europe--China relationship in general, such as the Great Britain China Centre. Our project will also speak to international organisations that are concerned with cross-national population issues, such as the Population Unit of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
By publicising the emerging research findings of our project through the media, members of the general public might also benefit from a better understanding of some of the common population issues facing both regions, and the similarities and differences of the policy responses in China and Europe.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tak-Wing Chan (Principal Investigator) | |
| John Ermisch (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Chan T
(2022)
The dynamics of relative poverty in China in a comparative perspective
in Chinese Journal of Sociology
Chan T
(2019)
Introduction to the special issue on 'Life course and family dynamics in a comparative perspective'
in Chinese Journal of Sociology
Chan T
(2019)
The Dynamics of Income Inequality: The Case of China in a Comparative Perspective
in European Sociological Review
Gruijters R
(2018)
Daughters' and Sons' Remittances in Rural China: Findings From a National Survey
in Journal of Family Issues
Gruijters R
(2018)
Patrilocal, Matrilocal, or Neolocal? Intergenerational Proximity of Married Couples in China
in Journal of Marriage and Family
Gruijters R
(2019)
Trends in educational mobility: How does China compare to Europe and the United States?
in Chinese Journal of Sociology
| Description | We show that levels of income inequality is very much higher in China than in Western countries. We also show that there is considerably more income mobility in China than in the West. Although income mobility might reduced income inequality over time, it turns out that China is much more unequal than the West in terms of long-run income difference. There is also much greater income volatility or insecurity in the short term in China. The findings of our research suggest that thirty years into the market reform, inequality of income and of educational opportunity in China has become a very serious issue and policy challenge in China. We also report very distinctive trends by birth cohort in the association between parental education and the educational outcome of children. While this time trend is largely unsystematic for Western countries, we see a clear increase in this association in China. That is to say, intergenerational educational mobility is getting more difficult for more recent birth cohorts in China. In a second paper we examine poverty dynamics in China, Germany, the UK and the US. There is no doubt that there has been very large reduction in absolute poverty in China over the past few decades. But we show that in a comparative context, relative poverty rate is at much a higher level in China than in the West. This is true not only for the headcount index, but also for indices which take into account the severity of poverty (i.e the poverty gap and the squared poverty gap). Using panel data, we show that over three waves, less than half of Chinese respondents are untouched by relative poverty, compared to 71-87% of respondents in the West. We also show that transient poverty and chronic poverty is much higher in China. Related to this, poverty entry and exit rates are both higher in China than in the West. UK's poverty exit rates are, by one measure, comparable to those of China. As regards predicting poverty entry/exit, we show that they are broadly comparable across countries. But the variance explained is much lower in the Chinese case. In a third paper, we examine the association between parents' and children's educational attainment in China, Germany, the Netherland, the UK and the US. We argue that despite the impressive growth in school enrolment rates in China over the past few decades, various observers have raised concerns about increasing inequality of educational opportunity. We show that China's economic boom has been accompanied by a strong increase in educational inequality. Educational inequality was low for those Chinese who grew up under state socialism. But for the most recent cohort, it has reached a level that is comparable to those of European countries, though it is still below that of the US. We discuss possible reasons for this finding, as well as implications for the comparative study of educational inequality. In a fourth paper, we examine the patterns of intergenerational proximity in China and analyses the structural conditions that are associated with couples' proximity to the husband's and the wife's parents. We show that almost 75% of married Chinese couples live with or in close proximity to the husband's parents. There is, however, a strong social gradient in intergenerational proximity, and patrilocality is particularly pronounced among rural-origin and less-educated couples. Matrilocal residence remains unusual, although it is more likely when the wife has no brothers. In a fifth paper, we study intergenerational contact. We analyse the frequency of (a) visits and (b) other contact (phone, text message, etc.) in a representative sample of 16,715 adult child-parent dyads. We focus on the role of migration as well as children's gender, marital status, and education level. We show that in China adult children generally maintained intensive social relations with parents, although distance was a major barrier to face-to-face contact. Sons visited more often than daughters, but daughters were more likely to stay in touch by other means. Moreover, the strength of parent-daughter ties was strongly dependent on education level. These findings suggest that women's empowerment and the spread of mobile technology have created new opportunities for intergenerational solidarity. |
| Exploitation Route | We are continuing our research, presenting our results in academic conferences and sending them to scholarly journals. This should stimulate academic interests in this area of research. At the same time, we are trying to organise meetings with think tanks and policy colleagues to ensure that our research could speak to their concerns. |
| Sectors | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Title | China Family Panel Survey data |
| Description | A major goal of the project is to harmonise and document household panel survey data from China (from the China Family Panel Survey) with comparable European data source (e.g. UK's Understanding Society and the German SocioEconomic Panel). We have been spending a good deal of time and effort working on the two waves of Chinese data that are currently available, paying particular attention to those variables that speak to income mobility and poverty. (A third wave of data will be available in a few months.) |
| Type Of Material | Data handling & control |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | As the harmonisation work is still ongoing, we have not yet made the draft data set available to the broader research public. But when this is done, the data set will become a major resource that could support comparative work that involves China and European countries. |