Determinants of the decline in parity progression ratios in China, 1979-1984: a factor analysis of provincial data
Yang, Q.
International Family Planning Perspectives 20(3): 101-107
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0190-3187 DOI: 10.2307/2133512Document Number: 329545
Provincial data for China are used to examine the interrelationships between socioeconomic development, family planning and changes in parity progression ratios between 1979 and 1984, using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that at the provincial level, a decline in progression from first births to second births depended largely on the province's level of socioeconomic development. In contrast, the family planning programme exerted the most significant influence on the decline in progression from second births to third births, independent of socioeconomic conditions. It is concluded that the family planning programme and socioeconomic development policies and projects are mutually reinforcing, in that both development and family planning were associated with fertility changes in the subregions of China. As economic reform progresses in China, fertility decline will be likely to depend more on changes in socioeconomic conditions, while the influence of ideological motivation through mass campaigns will probably wane with the rise of Chinese individualism.