Intergenerational Contact in Chinese Families: Structural and Cultural Explanations

Although the determinants of intergenerational contact have been well documented in Western countries, we know virtually nothing about the situation in China, a country that has recently experienced unprecedented socioeconomic and demographic change. This study analyzed the frequency of (a) visits and (b) other contact (phone, text message, etc.) in a representative sample of 16,715 adult child–parent dyads, focusing in particular on the role of migration as well as children's gender, marital status, and education level. 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

A Contested Crisis: Policy Narratives and Empirical Evidence on Border Deaths in the Mediterranean

Death and suffering of migrants at Europe’s Mediterranean Sea border has become one of the defining moral and political issues of our time. While humanitarian organizations argue that deaths result from Europe’s policy of exclusion and closure, those employing a deterrence-oriented narrative have argued for even stricter border controls. Perhaps because of its contentious nature, the debate is often devoid of systematic information on the drivers and dynamics of border deaths. This study contributes to our understanding of border deaths in the Mediterranean region in three ways: it describes and evaluates recent data sources on migration and mortality; it provides a descriptive statistical analysis of absolute and relative mortality risks between 2010 and 2016; and it assesses the relationship between European border policy and border deaths. Our findings challenge the dominant deterrence-oriented policy narrative and highlight the failure of European authorities to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis

Patrilocal, Matrilocal, or Neolocal? Intergenerational Proximity of Married Couples in China

© 2018 National Council on Family Relations Objective: The study describes current patterns of intergenerational proximity in China and analyzes the structural conditions that are associated with couples' proximity to the husband's and the wife's parents. Background: Patrilocality is a core aspect of the traditional Chinese kinship system and is deeply rooted in Confucian beliefs. In recent decades, however, this custom has been challenged by internal migration as well changes in family values and preferences. Method: The authors model the effect of each spouse's household registration (hukou) origin, education level, and sibling structure on intergenerational proximity using a nationally representative sample of 4,256 couples derived from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies. Results: 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. Conclusion: The custom of patrilocal residence demonstrates a remarkable resilience, even as other patriarchal traditions have crumbled in the face of China's Great Transformation. Implications: The authors provide explanations for the persistence of patrilocality and discuss implications for intergenerational support, gender inequality, and son preference

Intergenerational contact in Chinese families: Structural and cultural explanations

While the determinants of intergenerational contact have been well documented in Western countries, we know virtually nothing about the situation in China, a country that has recently experienced unprecedented socio-economic and demographic change. This study analyzed the frequency of 1) visits and 2) other contact (phone, text message etc.) in a representative sample of 16,715 adult child-parent dyads; focusing in particular on the role of migration as well as children's gender, marital status and education level. 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

Daughters’ and sons’ remittances in rural China: findings from a national survey

In China, it has historically been the responsibility of sons rather than daughters to provide economic support to older parents. This study used a sample of 12,389 non-coresident children to analyze whether such gender differences persist in contemporary rural China and how they can be explained. A two-part model showed that daughters were somewhat more likely to remit to parents, although sons provided higher amounts. The support of parents by both daughters and sons was found to be strongly related to out-migration and the receipt of grandchild care, but the negative effect of marriage was stronger for daughters. These findings imply a weakening of the traditional gendered division of intergenerational support. The increased importance of daughters as a source of economic security in later life is likely to reduce parents’ preference for sons

Patrilocal, matrilocal or neolocal? Intergenerational proximity of married couples in China

Objective: The study describes current patterns of intergenerational proximity in China, and analyzes the structural conditions that are associated with couples' proximity to the husband's and the wife's parents. Background: Patrilocality is a core aspect of the traditional Chinese kinship system, and is deeply rooted in Confucian beliefs. In recent decades, however, this custom has been challenged by internal migration as well changes in family values and preferences. Method: We model the effect of each spouse's household registration (hukou) origin, education level, and sibling structure on intergenerational proximity, using a nationally representative sample of 4,256 couples derived from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies. Results: 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. Conclusion: The custom of patrilocal residence demonstrates a remarkable resilience, even as other patriarchal traditions have crumbled in the face of China's 'Great Transformation'. Implications: We provide explanations for the persistence of patrilocality and discuss implications for intergenerational support, gender inequality and son preference.</p

Learning Inequality in Francophone Africa: School Quality and the Educational Achievement of Rich and Poor Children

Influential reports about the “learning crisis” in the global South generally pay insufficient attention to social inequalities in learning. In this study, we explore the association between family socioeconomic status and learning outcomes in 10 francophone African countries using data from the Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems, a standardized assessment of pupils’ mathematics and reading competence at the end of primary school. We start by showing that learning outcomes among grade 6 pupils are both poor and highly stratified. We then develop and test a conceptual framework that highlights three mechanisms through which family socioeconomic status might contribute to learning: (1) educational resources at home, (2) health and well-being, and (3) differences in school quality. We find that most of the effect of family background on learning outcomes operates through school quality, which results from a combination of the unequal distribution of resources (such as teachers and textbooks) across schools and high socioeconomic segregation between schools. On the basis of these results, we suggest that most countries in the region could improve equity as well as overall performance by “raising the floor” in school quality. </jats:p

Segplot: A new method for visualizing patterns of multi-group segregation

Social science research on between-group segregation relies heavily on mathematical indices of exposure and unevenness, which tell us very little about the underlying patterns of segregation. We present a new visual method for analyzing two-group and multi-group segregation patterns, which we call a segplot. Segplots provide an intuitive illustration of segregation between schools, neighborhoods, occupations, or other units, adding to the depth and communicability of scholarly research. The visualization shows the entire segregation pattern, as well as the relevant reference distribution used in many measures of segregation. Segplots are particularly useful when comparing patterns of segregation over time, between locations, or between different types of units. For more complex, high-dimensional segregation patterns, we also present an algorithm that can be used to “compress” the pattern to obtain a visually clearer result. We provide illustrative applications to typical problems in segregation research, demonstrating how segplots can be used to complement and enrich a traditional mathematical analysis of between-group segregation

Beyond Heyneman &amp; Loxley: the relative importance of families and schools for learning outcomes in francophone Africa

Data from sub-Saharan Africa show that many students leave school without the skills they need to thrive. To address this issue, it is important to understand what factors influence learning. Heyneman and Loxley (1983) observed that, in low-income countries, school quality is more important for explaining differences in learning than students’ family backgrounds. Recent research suggests that this influential conclusion no longer holds, without discounting the possibility that such trends could still be observed in countries with very low national incomes. The present study investigates this possibility by using the highly-detailed PASEC dataset, which covers ten countries in West- and Central Africa. Improving on Heyneman and Loxley’s methodology by using general dominance analysis, this study finds no support for the ‘Heyneman-Loxley Effect’ in this low-income region. Both school quality and student background account for around half of the explained variance in learning outcomes. These findings suggest that both family- and school-related factors are important sources of inequality of opportunity in low-income contexts