One‐child policy and marriage market in China

Abstract

AbstractThis study analyzes the effect of one‐child policy on marriage market in China and focuses on leftover situation, marriage age, and age differential between husband and wife. Considering age 30 years as the cutoff point, the one‐child policy has increased the leftover proportion to about 1.2%, with 1.8% on men and 0.6% on women. Although the general public is aware of the problem of urban leftover women, the problem of leftover men is much more serious than that of women, with the former situation due to the large numbers of men and the latter due to the matching process. The one‐child policy on marriage age is positive and significant, irrespective of urban, rural residents, or migrants, but the effect is smaller in urban areas, which is consistent with the fact that the sex ratio is more balanced in urban areas. This policy also increases the age differential between husband and wife on the whole; however, it is positive and significant for the male‐headed families but negative for the female‐headed families.