title: Marriage Squeeze and Intergenerational Support in Contemporary Rural China: Evidence from X County of Anhui Province.
abstract: With China's gender imbalance and increasingly severe male marriage squeeze, patterns of intergenerational support in rural areas are likely to undergo significant change. Using data from a survey of four towns from X county in Anhui province carried out in 2008, this article analyzes the effects of sons' marital status on intergenerational support. Random-effect regression analysis shows that son's marital status has strong effects on financial support to and coresidence with parents. Compared with married sons, older unmarried sons (so-called forced bachelors) tend to provide less financial support to their parents and are more likely to live with their parents. Parents' support of sons, as well as the parents' own needs and sons' capabilities all affect the support provided by sons. These results show that both theories of exchange and altruism are simultaneously relevant in the context of the marriage squeeze of contemporary rural China.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Population and Development Studies, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China guoqiuju013@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qiuju
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005378:Financial Support; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D012847:Single Person; D012944:Social Support
keywords: coresidence; emotional support; financial support; forced bachelors; instrumental support