Changes in Family Structure in China

Abstract

It is widely recognized that remarkable changes in Chinese family structure have accompanied changes in the rates of marriage, fertility, and mortality in recent decades. The average age at marriage of females increased gradually from around 18.5 years before 1949 to about 20 in 1970 and increased rapidly thereafter to about 23 circa 1980. The total fertility rate declined from about 6 births per woman before 1970 to 2.5 in 1982. Life expectancy of China’s population increased from 47 years in 1950 to 67.9 years in 1981–66.4 years for males, 69.4 years for females (Jiang et al. 1984, 5) [1].