Changes in Chinese Urban Family Structure

Changes in Chinese Urban Family Structure
Author(s): Ming Tsui

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Aug., 1989), pp. 737-747
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/352172
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MING TSUI State University of New York at Stony Brook
Changes in Chinese Urban
Family Structure
This study, based on data from the Five-City Since the situation in smaller urban areas and in
Family Survey conducted in China in 1982, ex- the rural areas in China may differ, the explana-
amines the changes in urban family structure in tions and conclusions offered here may not be
contemporary China. It focuses on the incidence generalizable to them.
of nuclear and stem families and on the impact of
government policies on urban family structure
DATA, CLASSIFICATION, AND DEFINITION OF
since 1949. The article suggests that, although
FAMILY STRUCTURE
changes in value and consumption patterns will
The data analyzed in this study are taken from the

eventually make the nuclear family the dominant
Five-City Family Survey, which was carried out in

pattern, a rapid decrease in stem families is not
1982 by the Institute of Sociology under the

likely in the near future because of the impact of
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The survey

traditional as well as social, political, and
economic factors in Chinese urban family struc- was designed to obtain information on the present
situation of, as well as changes in, urban families.

ture.
Interviewees (N = 5,057) were married women
aged 20 to 94 who resided in eight neighborhood
A family survey of the five largest cities in China,
communities randomly selected in the five largest
conducted in 1982, revealed changes in Chinese
Chinese cities. The method used was a combina-
urban family structure over the past 80 years. The
tion of questionnaires and intensive interviews.
survey showed a decrease of extended and single-
The investigation concerned family structure
member households and an increase of nuclear
and function, marriage, and fertility. The
and stem families. These findings offer, for the
background data included the socioeconomic
first time in Chinese history, some systematic and
status of the interviewees and the family struc-
quantitative data on urban family structure in
tures of the women interviewed, as well as the
China, and provide valuable information for
structures of their and their husbands' families of
studying the social, economic, and political in-
origin. The present study uses only the data con-
fluences on the family.
cerning family structure and focuses on changes in
This study examines stem and nuclear family
urban family structure over the past 80 years.
residence patterns and their changes over time in
Before analyzing the data of the Five-City
five cities in China with more than 2 million
Family Survey, it is useful to clarify the definition
population, focusing especially on the impact of
and classifications used in the survey. The term
government policies and of social changes on ur-
family refers to the residential unit. The five dif-
ban family structure from 1949 to the present.
ferent types of families are single-member,
nuclear, stem, extended, and "other" families.
The single-member household consists of one

Department of Sociology, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook,
NY 11794.
person: this category includes married, divorced,
Journal of Marriage and the Family 51 (August 1989): 737-747

737
Journal of Marriage and the Family
738
and widowed women who lived alone at the time In these studies (Fei, 1962; Lang, 1946) of the
of the survey. Chinese family, the term "the large family" or
The nuclear family consists of parents and "the extended family" was used to refer to the ex-
their unmarried children. It also includes childless tended family with several generations living
couples and one of the parents (the other either under one roof. The stem household was not
dead or divorced) with an unmarried child or classified as an extended family.
children. The distribution of household patterns of the
The stem family consists of parents, their un- interviewee's current family, and of her husband's
married children, and one married child with and her own family of origin, according to the
spouse and children. This family type includes Five-City Family Survey, is shown in Table 1. The
those with only one parent (the other either dead number of extended households decreased over
or divorced) and one married child and the latter's two generations (from the family of origin of the
spouse and children, and those consisting of two interviewee and her husband to the interviewee's
generations-for example, parents and a young contemporary family). There was a significant in-
married couple but with no grandchildren. crease in nuclear households, some increase in
The extended family is made up of two or stem families, and a slight decrease (1% ) of
more generations with two or more pairs of mar- "other" households over the two generations.
ried couples in one generation and their unmar- There was a significant decrease of single-
ried children. This type of family is usually called member households. There are only 2.44% single-
"the large family" or "the traditional extended member households among currently married
family" (Fei, 1962; Hsu, 1943; Lang, 1946). women, but prior to marriage, 6.84%7 of the inter-
The fifth category ("other") refers to viewees and 16.03 % of their husbands lived alone.
households other than the above-mentioned four The difference is partly due to the fact that the
and includes families consisting of unmarried survey excluded unmarried women and single, di-
brother(s) and sister(s), of uncle(s) or aunt(s) with vorced, or widowed men.
nephew(s) or niece(s), and of people living Table 1 shows substantial differences in the
together but with no blood or marital relations. frequencies of single, nuclear, and stem families
In earlier studies of the Chinese family (Fei, between the interviewee's and husband's family of
1962; Lang, 1946), the stem family was described origin. There are more nuclear and stem house-
as "a reduced extended family" or "an enlarged holds but fewer single-member ones among the
(or expanded) nuclear family." It is a reduced ex- families of origin of the interviewees. These dif-
tended family when some of the married children ferences can be explained by the findings of the
break away from their parents after having stayed survey, which show that women are more likely to
with them in an extended family and only one be native urbanites than men and that among the
married child and his/her spouse and unmarried rural people who sought employment and educa-
children continue to stay until the parent(s) die(s). tion in the city there have been more men than
A nuclear family, on the other hand, may expand women.
into a stem family when one child is married and Table 1 also shows that more than 50% of all
brings the spouse home or one widowed parent urban households have had a nuclear family struc-
joins the family of a married child. ture in two generations and that there has been a
TABLE 1. HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE OF WOMEN INTERVIEWED AND THE STRUCTURE OF
THEIR AND THEIR HUSBANDS' FAMILIES OF ORIGIN (PERCENTAGE)
Interviewee's Husband's Interviewee's
Family Type Family of Origin Family of Origin Current Family
Single 6.84 (341) 16.03 (797)* 2.44 (107)
Nuclear 59.15 (2,948)* 55.12 (2,740)* 66.41 (2,912)
Stem 22.55 (1,124) 17.96 (893)* 24.29 (1,065)
Extended 5.68 (283) 5.13 (255) 2.30 (101)
Other 5.78 (288) 5.75 (286) 4.56 (200)
Total 100 (4,984) 100 (4,971) 100 (4,385)
Source: Five-City Family Survey (1985: 450, 483, 507).
*Significantly different from current family at p = .05.
739
Chinese Urban Family Structure
substantial increase in nuclear families in the in- was prevalent only among upper classes (land-
terviewee's generation. The stem family is the sec- lords, wealthy gentry, etc.; see note 1). According
ond most frequent residence pattern in large cities to the 1985 Five-City Family Survey, the existing
in China, while traditional extended families have extended families today are mostly found among
always been rare in cities and have decreased in people who have a high salary and some assets,
frequency further in recent years. such as a privately owned house.
Besides economic reasons, the managerial skill
of a family head is also important in maintaining
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE DATA an extended family. In order to hold such a family
together, social and administrative skills are re-
Ideal and Actual Family Type
quired of a family head to deal with centrifugal
In his theoretical essay, Marion Levy (1965) em- forces such as mother-in-law or sister-in-law prob-
phasizes the distinction between an ideal and an lems. The two most famous novels about the
actual family pattern. He argues that despite big Chinese family, The Dream of the Red Chamber
differences between ideal family types in different (Ts'ao, 1958) and The Family (Pa, 1964), have
societies, the actual family size and composition described the dispersion of an extended family
of over 50% of the people in the world are essen- after the death of the family head, who was the
tially the same (Levy, 1965). According to Table most powerful and respected person in the family.
1, extended families, which have often been con- Because of these economic and social-psycho-
sidered characteristic of China, have apparently logical factors, the presumed prevalence of ex-
not been the actual modal family pattern in tended family in China was only an ideal, realized
China, and the prevalence of nuclear households only by a small minority, usually the upper
over the generations indicates that the major classes. Since the beginning of modernization,
family pattern in China has been similar to that in which dates from the end of 19th century, the ex-
Western and other societies in the world.' tended family has been under attack by modern
The extended family, with several generations educated classes because it "creates enormous
living under one roof, was regarded as typical of friction, hampers the development of personality,
Chinese society until the 1930s, when several field leads to the oppression of young people by their
studies showed that large families were rare and elders, favors parasitism, and does not allow an
the average family consisted of about five people able man to enjoy the earned reward of his labor"
(Fei, 1962; Hsu, 1943; Lang, 1946). The factors (Lang, 1946: 144). Therefore, as early as the thir-
that limit the frequency of extended households ties, there was a decrease in extended families
are both economic and social-psychological. among modern middle- and upper-class officials
Many studies (e.g., Chen, 1985; Hsu, 1943; and professionals (Lang, 1946). A steady decrease
Lang, 1946) have shown a positive association be- of extended families, as shown in Tables 1 and 2,
tween household composition and the amount of gives reason to believe that this type of family
land and other resources. Because of the labor- structure is likely to disappear in the near future.
intensive character of agricultural production, Although the extended family pattern has not
"large farms required more laborers and thus

been maintained by modern educated people (who
resulted in large households" (Chen, 1985). Sup- have been by far the minority in China), for many
porting as well as maintaining an extended

people, especially the older generation, a large
household, in turn, is costly and often requires

multigeneration household is still regarded as an
economic resources that are well above average.

ideal, as it symbolizes wealth, harmony between
Further, the high mortality rate among the family members, and the filial piety of the young
poor caused by bad living conditions, malnutri- for the old. Under this situation, the stem family
tion, and disease, as well as relatively late mar- seems to offer an alternative to the extended fami-
riage among the poor due to financial difficulties, ly, as it does not break with the tradition of filial
made it difficult for poor people to form an ex-

piety and provides, at the same time, a mutual-
tended household, since they would be less likely

support network to ease the burdens of house-
than the rich to have old parents who were still

work and child care. The persistence and a slight
alive by the time the younger couples could marry.

increase in stem families, as shown in Tables 1 and
Consequently, before 1949, the extended family

2, seem to reflect this tendency.
TABLE 2. HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE OF INTERVIEWEES' AND THEIR HUSBANDS' FAMILIES OF
ORIGIN PRIOR TO MARRIAGE, BY YEAR OF MARRIAGE (PERCENTAGE)
Family Type and Year of Marriage

Family Type and
Family of Origin -1937 1938-45 1946-49 1950-53 1954-57 1958-65 1966-76 1977-82
Single
Interviewee's family 5.88 (33) 7.04 (43) 7.81 (36) 8.69 (41) 7.99 (39) 7.23 (45) 4.41 (38) 1.73 (15)
Husband's family 15.08 (84) 18.68 (113) 15.58 (72) 21.02 (99) 18.84 (91) 20.42 (126) 16.47 (141) 6.12 (53)
Nuclear
Husband's family 51.35 (286) 49.92 (302) 50.87 (235) 50.53 (238) 49.28 (238) 52.51 (324) 60.16 (515) 67.55 (585)
Stem
Husband's family 17.77 (99) 18.02 (109) 19.05 (88) 17.83 (84) 18.22 (88) 18.31 (113) 16.59 (142) 19.28 (167)
Extended
Husband's family 8.98 (50) 7.27 (44) 8.87 (41) 4.03 (19) 6.21 (30) 2.76 (17) 3.50 (30) 2.42 (21)
Other
Husband's family 6.82 (38) 6.12 (37) 5.63 (26) 6.58 (31) 7.45 (36) 6.00 (37) 3.27 (28) 4.62 (40)
Total
Interviewee's family 100 (561) 100 (611) 100 (461) 100 (472) 100 (488) 100 (622) 100 (861) 100 (866)
Husband's family 100 (557) 100 (605) 100 (462) 100 (471) 100 (483) 100 (617) 100 (856) 100 (866)
Source: Five-City Family Survey (1985: 484, 508).
Note: The intervals in the table indicate particular historical periods in contemporary Chinese history. For example, 1938-45 indicates the Anti-Japanese
War, and 1966-67, the Cultural Revolution.
Chinese Urban Family Structure 741
Changes in Values, Consumption Orientation,

their parents' expense (Chen, 1985).3 As these ex-
and Economic and Emotional Interdependence

penses usually amount to an average of 2,000 to
4,000 yuan (40 to 80 times the average monthly
In recent years, an increasingly individualistic at-

salary), a child's wedding may nearly exhaust the
titude toward life has developed among young

parents' life-long savings. Subsequent financial
people in China. Attributed primarily to the im-

difficulties often lead to family conflicts.
pact of the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to

The individual-oriented consumption pattern
1976, which destroyed both traditional and new

indicates a reversal of the Chinese family tradition
social values, it can be observed through increased

in which young couples contribute more to their
apathy in regard to political and public affairs and

parents than they take from them. This change
a growing interest in material comfort and in-

tends to create or intensify family conflicts and
dividual conjugal units. A recent survey (Pan,

may push toward the disintegration of the ex-
1986) showed that 68.3% of workers and em-

tended family. At the same time, however, the
ployees thought that the most important change

growing economic dependence of the young on
during the economic reform started in 1979 was a

the old prevents dissolution of stem households.
desire to "earn as much money as possible by

Another characteristic of the growing gap and
working hard so as to modernize family life,"

conflict between generations can be seen in an in-
which means to buy modern household appliances

creased divorce rate and changing attitudes and
and raise living standards (Pan, 1986: 103).

behavior about premarital sex. According to of-
Another survey of 247 young people reported that

ficial statistics, the divorce rate increased from
44.8% had no interest and little confidence in the

0.33 per thousand population in 1979 to 0.88 in
current social and economic reforms (Lu, 1986).

1985, and 70% of divorces were filed by people
In general, the attitude concerning the purpose

under 35 (China Encyclopaedia, 1986). A recent
of living, as revealed in that survey, was to create

survey of factory workers shows that 20% of
a better material life for oneself and one's con-

young females considered it all right to have sex
jugal family, and try to do something good for

before marriage, and a survey in 1987 reported
others and society as well (Lu, 1986). This value

that more than half of the abortions in a large city
orientation was different not only from the

were among unmarried women (Dai, 1987).
unselfish, collectivist orientation emphasized by

This change indicates a sharp departure from
the Communist Party, but also from the tradi-

the traditional as well as socialist morality in
tional familism, which calls for self-sacrifice for

China, both of which emphasize the stability of
parents and ancestors. As both the traditional and

the family and take a puritanical attitude toward
collective familistic orientation emphasize a total

sex. (The traditional morality places heavy em-
devotion to the group-the family and the state,

phasis on the chastity of women.) Because of the
respectively-some results of this change are a

deep-rooted traditional values among the older
growing gap and conflict between generations and

generation (aged 60 and over) and relatively well-
a desire on the part of young people to be free

instilled new values in the middle-aged generation,
from their elders' supervision.2 A recent survey

this change on the part of the young is likely to
conducted in Beijing found that 90% of those

create generational conflicts and result in the
aged 15 to 25 wanted to set up financially inde-

disintegration of the extended and stem families.
pendent families and maintain some physical

The reason for the discrepancy between a
distance from their parents (Chen, 1985).

decreasing frequency of the extended family and
This change in values among the young is most

the fact of a stable and a slightly increased stem
clearly reflected in their consumption orientation.

household is that China is characterized by an in-
Today, the tendency of the young is to spend all

tergenerational income inequality, with the older
of their earnings on themselves and their conjugal

generation enjoying higher occupational prestige
family; many even ask for financial help from

and income than the younger one. When a young
their parents in order to increase their own

couple get married and have children, their
material comfort. One common practice is to re-

salaries are low, and they often need financial
quest a large amount of money and gifts from the

help from their parents in order to cope with this
parents at the time of the wedding and to give

life-cycle strain. Since most of the parents of ur-
large, expensive wedding celebration dinners at

ban young couples are working, it is common for
742
the parents to contribute a portion of their income 1945 because of war and country-wide famine, as
to their married child (Chen, 1985). This financial well as to the consequence of the industrial
dependence of the young on the old makes many developmental policy adopted by the government
young couples, especially the newlyweds, join during the 1950s and early 1960s.4 Peasants who
their parents' family for at least a few years after sought employment in urban areas often intended
marriage, thereby increasing the number of stem to "make a fortune" and then go home or bring
households temporarily. their parents to the city after they attained the
Another form of economic interdependence is financial ability to do so. Before 1949, economic
apparent in child-care patterns. Today, with 90% reasons often prevented them from fulfilling their
of women aged 18 to 55 working, child care has plan. After 1949, however, the strict migration
become a major problem in the family: more than policy, which allowed only those employed by the
80% of children aged under 3 and 30% of those

state or collectively run enterprises to register as
aged 3-7 have to be taken care of by the family urban residents, forced these former peasants to
(Five-City Family Survey, 1985). Since a private

reside in the city by themselves. Since the late
babysitter would cost about 90% of a young 1960s, the government has forbidden the migra-
mother's salary, many young parents have to ask tion of people from the country to the big cities.
their parents for help: the young couple either put

Because of this policy change, it is likely that, at
the child in their parents' house to be cared by the

least in big cities, the single-person household will
nonworking or retired grandmother or they live decrease and cease to be the contributor in the in-
temporarily with their parents and have the latter crease of nuclear families there.
share the child-care cost.

Another factor that contributes to the recent
This coresidence not only provides more increase in the number of nuclear families in big
human resources for housework and child care cities is the population policy practiced in the
but is also less costly for the parents because they 1950s and 1960s: the encouragement of childbear-
do not need to give the young couple a monthly ing during that period and a sharp drop in mor-
sum for the care of their grandchild. Therefore, tality after 1949 resulted in a large number of
this child-care pattern constitutes one of the main households with many children. These households
factors involved in the stability and slight increase

tend to divide into a stem and several nuclear
of stem family residence. families when the children grow up because the
common practice is to have one sibling stay with
the parent(s) while the others establish independ-
Family Structure and Social Policy
ent households. With the adoption of a birth-
There are several explanations for the changes in

control policy since 1970, households with
the structure of Chinese urban family, and most

numerous children have decreased in recent years.
of them seem to connect closely with government

This change may cause a decline in the number of
policy. The increase in the frequency of nuclear

nuclear families, since fewer nuclear families will
families in recent years (see Tables 1 and 2) may

be established as a consequence of being split
be due to a relatively higher percentage of single

from households with many children. And if the
men and women in urban areas in the past,

practice of letting one sibling stay with the
because a single person would often set up a

parent(s) continues, we will expect a temporary in-
nuclear family upon marriage unless he or she

crease in the stem household.
joined the spouse family. This explanation raises

In recent years, some social and economic
the questions of why there were more single peo-

policies adopted by the government have also af-
ple in urban areas in the past than there are at

fected the direction of change in urban family
present and whether single urban people are likely

structure. By analyzing the relation between the
to contribute to an increase of nuclear families in

family structure and the one-child population
the future. By analyzing the background factors

policy, Chen (1985) has predicted that the policy
in each period that witnessed an increase of one-

would facilitate the growth of the nuclear family
person households, we could glean some tentative

because the growing interests of the young in their
answers to these questions. For example, the in-

conjugal family and their only child tend to fur-
crease could be attributed to the flow to cities of a

ther the disintegration of the extended family
large number of bankrupt peasants from 1938 to

structure and result in a "deliberate effort" on
743
the part of the young "to distance themselves

of the expenses of the grandchild. This residential
from their parents both financially and

arrangement, based on economic considerations,
physically" (Chen, 1985: 198). While Chen's

may well contribute to the persistence of the stem
argument is correct in regard to the increases in in- family.
tergenerational conflicts in large families, a recent

Because of "the low wage, high employment"
survey shows that 39% of one-child families com-

policy, and the emphasis on seniority and longevi-
pared with 27% of families with several children

ty in wage distribution, the income difference be-
consisted of three generations (Pian, 1986). Thus,

tween generations is likely to continue in urban
something else is at work here.

China. Consequently, the young married couple
Most studies of the traditional Chinese family

will continue to need financial help from their
emphasize the absolute power of parents and the

parents (at least for a short period of time). The
coercive aspects of the family. But as Yang (1974)

older generation, on the other hand, is willing to
pointed out, the emphasis on parental affection

help the young couple because of the strong
and interdependence between parents and

parent-child bond. As most young couples aged
children is equally important in the Chinese fami-

25-30 can have only one child and the one-child
ly tradition. The parents, especially the mother,

family is more easily accommodated into another
would sacrifice everything for the benefit of their

household, many one-child families are likely to
children, especially sons.

be stem families, at least for a short period of
Although this strong parent-child bond was time.
formed partly because the parents in the tradi-

In the long run, the one-child population
tional family depended upon sons (sometimes

policy may also affect the family structure of this
daughters when there was no son) for their old-

one-child generation. Some recent studies
age security, emotional and social factors also

(Huang, 1982; Pian, 1986) have shown that most
played an important part. The Chinese believe

single-child parents believe their child deserves
that rearing children provides emotional ful-

whatever they have and tend to be overprotective.
fillment and they regard the success of the

According to the survey (Pian, 1986), 957o of the
children as a symbol of social achievement for the

single-child parents said that they would not allow
parents. (In traditional times, an honorific title

their child to take a job in another city; 50%o of
was granted by the imperial government to

the parents don't want their child to attend
parents of sons who had passed the civil service

schools in other cities. Because of the attention
examinations.)
(more often, the indulgence) from parents and
In recent decades, the economic dependence of

grandparents, the single child is more likely to be
the parent on the child has been gradually

spoiled. Pian (1986) reported that, compared with
diminishing in urban China. One recent survey

children who have siblings, the single child is more
showed that 50% of urban people aged 60 to 80

likely to be self-indulgent, more timid, and less in-
were either gainfully employed or receiving a

dependent.5 For example, many of these single
retirement pension (He, Huan, and Zhang, 1986).

children cannot dress themselves and dare not
The economic independence of the elders,

cross the street alone at age 6.
however, does not necessarily weaken the strong

On the basis of this child-care pattern, the rela-
parent-child bond, especially on the part of the

tionship between parent and child, and the psy-
parent. What has started to change is the financial

chological condition of the single child, it is diffi-
support pattern within the urban family. Today,

cult to predict the frequency of the nuclear family
instead of "rearing a son for the sake of old age,"

structure when this one-child generation reaches
the popular saying is "water always flows down-

marriage age.
ward," meaning that the financial support is uni-

Other policies-for example, one that permits
lateral, from parent to child. An important recent

one of the children to take over a retired parent's
survey of randomly selected urban couples aged

job and another that permits one of the children
25-35 (N = 386) showed that 39% of them receive

to remain in the city to take care of one parent
some kind of financial support from their parents

or both-have brought about an increased inter-
(Gao, 1986). One common practice is to get free

generational dependence and hence have likely led
room and board in the parent's house after mar-

to an increase of stem family residence. When
riage; another is to let the grandparent bear part

children who took over a parent's job get mar-
744 Journal of Marriage and the Family
ried, they often have to live with the parents characterized by absolute control by the elders, a
young daughter-in-law has the lowest status in the

because they usually cannot get a room assign-
ment while their parents live in a company house. family. She is under the direct control of her
As for the child who was chosen to stay in the city mother-in-law and usually cannot expect any sup-
to take care of the parents, the common practice port from her husband when she is mistreated.
was to stay in the latter's house. Finally, the This situation has changed gradually, ever since
economic policy that encourages the development the beginning of this century as the country
of individual and family enterprises has reassigned started its modernization process. The changes in-
an economic function to some urban families. volve the weakening of traditional ideology and
Since mutual support is important in business participation of women in industrial labor force.
competition, these families are likely to adopt a Although women started to take gainful jobs
large-household arrangement. The decision of the before 1949, they accounted for only 7.5%o of
married couple to coreside with the parents merely total employment and their wages were half or
because of the above-mentioned restrictions and three-fifths as high as those of males. Since 1949
considerations, however, is likely to be temporary women's economic status has changed greatly,
if we consider the growing aspiration for privacy especially in the city. In order to achieve rapid in-
among the young in urban China. dustrial development and control the city size at
the same time, the Communist government
started to employ the large untapped female labor
Family Structure and Change in
reserve in the city in the 1950s. Since then,
Women's Status
because of the "high employment, low wage"
Although the apparently stable, though slightly

policy, young women in Chinese cities have con-
increasing, trend of stem-family structure in-

sidered employment as part of their life. Accord-
dicates its persistence despite the winds of social

ing to the Five-City Family Survey, 81% of all
change, it does not follow that interpersonal rela-

married women were working and their wages
tions inside this type of family have remained un-

made up 42% of an average family income. This
changed. As a matter of fact, if we compare

economic independence and indispensable con-
power relations among family members, we notice

tribution to the family have given women in-
many qualitative differences between a traditional

creased bargaining power and changed their
stem family and a modern one. For example, the

subordinate position in the family. At the same
traditional family system emphasizes the impor-

time, although the mother-in-law has lost her
tance of the father-son relationship and

former position of absolute control, she is still
discourages intimacy between husband and wife.

respected because of tradition, and her contribu-
And as the power structure in this type of family is

tion to child care and household chores are con-
TABLE 3. PLACE OF RESIDENCE RIGHT AFTER MARRIAGE, BY YEAR OF MARRIAGE (PERCENTAGE)
Year of Marriage
Place of Residence -1937 1938-45 1946-49 1950-53 1954-57 1958-65 1966-76 1977-82
Neolocal 30.91 40.26 42.12 52.65 57.81 56.30 47.70 32.28
(174) (246) (195) (248) (285) (353) (415) (285)
Patrilocal 59.86 50.41 48.38 37.37 32.04 28.07 34.94 47.00
(337) (308) (224) (176) (158) (176) (304) (415)
Matrilocal 8.70 8.67 7.99 7.86 8.52 12.44 14.14 18.23
(49) (53) (37) (37) (42) (78) (123) (161)
Other 0.53 0.65 1.51 2.12 1.62 3.19 3.22 2.49
(3) (4) (7) (10) (8) (20) (28) (22)
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
(563) (611) (463) (471) (493) (627) (870) (883)
Source: Five-City Family Survey (1985: 318).
Note: A greater increase in patrilocal residence from 1966-76 to 1977-82 is probably due to the large number of
sent-down youth who returned to the city and stayed with their parents after marriage. Because of severe unemploy-
ment problems during those periods, many of these youth had difficulties in finding job and housing.
Chinese Urban Family Structure 745
sidered indispensable. Further, since many older and 10% with their parents (Table 4). At the time
women also work, they do not need to rely totally of the survey, 26% of them were still living in a
on their children. This serves to mitigate in- stem or extended household: 24% and 2%, re-
tergenerational conflicts that arise as a result of spectively (Table 1). The decline in participation
financial difficulties in a large family. in stem and extended families after marriage not
The elevation of women's status has not only only reflects the transitional nature of the stem
changed interpersonal relations inside the family, family but also indicates the effect of some demo-
graphic factors.
but also has started to change the traditional
patrilocal residence pattern. In recent years, more Table 5 describes the relation between par-
and more young couples have chosen to live with ticipation in different family patterns and the age
the wife's parents (Table 3), thereby increasing the of the respondents in the survey. We notice that in
number of stem families. the age group of 60 or over, there were twice as
many women living in stem families as in nuclear
families.
TABLE 4. PLACE OF RESIDENCE
Among middle-aged groups, the number of
RIGHT AFTER MARRIAGE
nuclear households exceeds number of stem
Place of Residence Percentage
families, especially in the age group of 33 to 45,
Neolocal 48.33 (2,414)
where nuclear families account for more than
Patrilocal 40.02 (2,003)
three-quarters of the total and stem families just

Matrilocal 9.69 (485)
Other 2.06 (103)

about one-fifth. The reason for this distribution
TOTAL 100 (5,005)
probably lies in demographic factors, such as
mortality, fertility, and age at marriage. Accord-
ing to the Five-City Family Survey, the average
As we see in Table 3, 18%1 of young couples age at first marriage for women is 23, and the
who were married between 1977 and 1982 chose a average age at the beginning of childbearing is 25.
matrilocal residence, as compared to 8% of such If we assume that the average life expectancy is 68
residence arrangements 30 years ago. One ex- (67 for men and 69 for women in 1985, according
planation for the increase of this residence ar- to China Year Book), many women aged 33 to 56
rangement is the fact that matrilocal residence would have no living parents and most of their
own children would not have reached the mar-

avoids the traditional conflict between mother-in-
law and daughter-in-law, and the strong emo- riage age, especially the youngest one. On the
tional bond between wife and parents facilitates basis of this assumption, we would expect that
financial and caretaking assistance between most women in these groups did not set up a stem
generations. family simply because they lacked the necessary
conditions.
As for the age group 24-32, the nearly equal
Family Structure and Demographic Factors
distribution of nuclear and stem families is likely
Fifty percent of currently married Chinese urban

to be due to the high fertility rate in their parents'
women live with one set of parents right after

generation. Since, according to the survey, the
marriage; 40% live with their husband's parents

average fertility rate for women aged 45 to 60 was
TABLE 5. PARTICIPATION OF MARRIED WOMEN IN DIFFERENT FAMILY TYPES,
BY AGE AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY IN ONE COMMUNITY (PERCENTAGE)
Age
Family Type Over 60 46-59 33-45 24-32
Single 10.08 (13) 2.65 (7) 1.32 (2) 0 (0)
Nuclear 23.26 (30) 57.95 (153) 76.82 (116) 46.50 (73)
Stem 60.46 (78) 35.23 (93) 19.21 (29) 49.04 (77)
Extended 3.88 (5) 1.89 (5) 1.99 (3) 3.82 (6)
Other 2.33 (3) 2.27 (6) 0.66 (1) 0.64 (1)
Total 100 (129) 100 (264) 100 (151) 100 (157)
746
2. Here "the family" means the family of origin, con-

five, it is likely that most of the respondents in the
sisting of parents and even the lineage group. In
group aged 24 to 33 are from families with several
China, "my family" usually refers to the family of
children; and since, as indicated earlier, the com-
origin or even the lineage group; "my own family"
mon practice is to have only one sibling stay with
refers to the nuclear family of procreation. This
the parent(s), the majority of these women set up distinction is widely accepted.
their own conjugal family. This situation is also
3. In China, the wedding dinner is given by the parents
true for many women in the 33-to-45-year age of the groom.
group. On the basis of the above analysis, it is
4. In the 1950s, the government adopted a self-reliance
clear that the distribution of nuclear and stem

policy in its economic development program. It
used a labor-intensive strategy to compensate for a

households is due, at least in part, to some of the
shortage of capital and for technical backwardness.
demographic factors discussed above.
As a result, a large number of young peasants were
hired by the state or collectively run enterprises,
especially during the Great Leap Forward in 1958,
CONCLUSION
when the government launched a crash program to
decentralize industry.
Using the Five-City Family Survey and other
related studies of Chinese urban families, I have

5. Because there have been few multiparity births since
1979 in urban areas, the comparison was based on

made these observations: (a) The nuclear family
the impressions of kindergarten teachers.
has always been the most common family pattern
and may eventually become dominant. (b) The
stem family has been in a stable condition, and its
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The Family: Its Structures and Functions. New
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Changes in Chinese Urban Family Structure

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Changes in Chinese Urban Family Structure

Author(s): Ming Tsui

Changes in Chinese Urban

contemporary China. It focuses on the incidence generalizable to them.

of nuclear and stem families and on the impact of

government policies on urban family structure

DATA, CLASSIFICATION, AND DEFINITION OF

since 1949. The article suggests that, although

changes in value and consumption patterns will

The data analyzed in this study are taken from the

Five-City Family Survey, which was carried out in

1982 by the Institute of Sociology under the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The survey

situation of, as well as changes in, urban families.

Interviewees (N = 5,057) were married women

aged 20 to 94 who resided in eight neighborhood

A family survey of the five largest cities in China,

communities randomly selected in the five largest

conducted in 1982, revealed changes in Chinese

Chinese cities. The method used was a combina-

urban family structure over the past 80 years. The

tion of questionnaires and intensive interviews.

survey showed a decrease of extended and single-

The investigation concerned family structure

member households and an increase of nuclear

and function, marriage, and fertility. The

and stem families. These findings offer, for the

background data included the socioeconomic

first time in Chinese history, some systematic and

status of the interviewees and the family struc-

quantitative data on urban family structure in

tures of the women interviewed, as well as the

China, and provide valuable information for

structures of their and their husbands' families of

studying the social, economic, and political in-

origin. The present study uses only the data con-

fluences on the family.

cerning family structure and focuses on changes in

This study examines stem and nuclear family

urban family structure over the past 80 years.

residence patterns and their changes over time in

Before analyzing the data of the Five-City

five cities in China with more than 2 million

Family Survey, it is useful to clarify the definition

population, focusing especially on the impact of

and classifications used in the survey. The term

government policies and of social changes on ur-

family refers to the residential unit. The five dif-

ban family structure from 1949 to the present.

ferent types of families are single-member,

nuclear, stem, extended, and "other" families.

The single-member household consists of one

Journal of Marriage and the Family 51 (August 1989): 737-747

of the survey. Chinese family, the term "the large family" or

dead or divorced) with an unmarried child or classified as an extended family.

children. The distribution of household patterns of the

brother(s) and sister(s), of uncle(s) or aunt(s) with vorced, or widowed men.

A nuclear family, on the other hand, may expand women.

TABLE 1. HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE OF WOMEN INTERVIEWED AND THE STRUCTURE OF

THEIR AND THEIR HUSBANDS' FAMILIES OF ORIGIN (PERCENTAGE)

Interviewee's Husband's Interviewee's

Family Type Family of Origin Family of Origin Current Family

Single 6.84 (341) 16.03 (797)* 2.44 (107)

Nuclear 59.15 (2,948)* 55.12 (2,740)* 66.41 (2,912)