Family transformation in Russia and China: comparative analysis

Family is the principle institution in Russian as well as in Chinese society - on these premises the authors of the article conducted comparative socio-demographic analysis of the transformation that is happening to families in both Russia and China. The objective of this paper is to describe main directions of such changes in Russia and China and their place in the general context of the family transformation. Official Russian and Chinese statistics was used as a data source. For China, skewed sex ratio at birth is one of the most acute problems which in the paper is viewed from the standpoint of demographic policy of the 1980s. The authors draw a conclusion that in China there is a preponderance of men aged under 30 years, while in Russia women are overrepresented in the age group of 35 and older. Increasing prevalence of extra-marital unions and births in both countries is noted. In Russia, these phenomena are more clearly seen in the Far East and Siberia and are associated with a more active domestic migration in these regions. In China, premarital cohabitation is recorded in large cities, although to a much lesser extent than in Russia and in the Western countries; nevertheless, the spread of cohabitation is one of the main characteristic signs of the present time. Migration within China (first and foremost, from rural to urban areas) does not cause rupture in intergenerational and marital relations, while in Russia migration processes correlate with divorce trends and the prevalence of single-parent and other types of families. The authors outline common features and specific manifestations of ongoing family transformation in Russia and China (which generally speaking aligns with the Second Demographic Transition theory) and the role of continental peculiarities in demographic processes. Transformation patterns observed among the Chinese families make it possible to conclude that China belongs to the South-Asian family transformation model, while Russia - to the West-European model.

соотношение полов, семья, средний размер семьи, структура домохозяйства, неполная семья, прочие семьи, внутренняя миграция, второй демографический переход, западноевропейская и восточноазиатская модели, sex proportion, family, household's structure, average family size, one-parent family, other families, internal migration, the second demographic transition, Western European and East Asian models

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