The preeminent role of government intervention in China's family revolution

This article argues that government policy on birth control is the preeminent cause of the family revolution in China, characterized chiefly by the trend toward later marriage, lower fertility, and smaller household size. Contrary to the expectations of the modernization thesis, which would attribute these changes in the Chinese family largely to the influence of industrialization and urbanization, the author argues that they are chiefly the outcome of direct government intervention. Interviews conducted by the author in seven widely separated collectives provide evidence--in particular, the abruptness of changes and reversals in fertility and age at marriage, and the close association between these changes and the declared intent of government policy--for characterizing the government as the prime mover in effecting the family revolution in China.