Family change in China over the past few decades has been characterised by a trend towards later marriage, greater marital instability, and increases in non-marital pregnancy and unmarried cohabitation. At the same time, many other features of Chinese marriage patterns have changed very little. Marriage remains near universal, especially among women. And despite the emergence of non-traditional family behaviours, the strong link between marriage and childbearing is unchallenged. In this seminar, Kim will summarise the findings of her PhD studies on the patterns of change and stability of a range of family behaviours in China. She draws upon several theoretical frameworks to argue that trends in family formation reflect tension between emergent individualistic marriage and sexual cultures and traditional family norms. Her research further highlights the important, yet conflicting, roles played by the Chinese state in shaping marriage outcomes. Over time, family policies in China have propelled changes in aspects of marriage formation, including marriage timing and spouse selection. However, by penalising alternative forms of family formation, morally conservative policies may have reinforced the traditional notion of marriage as the only legitimate path to family formation and parenthood.

Kim Xu is a PhD Candidate in the School of Demography at the Australian National University. Her research is focused on trends and patterns of marriage and family formation in China, and the application of simultaneous equations to analyse causal mutual effects of interrelated lifecourse events such as cohabitation, marriage, divorce and childbearing.