Women’s Status, Family Decision Making, and Childbearing in Jiangsu, China

Background China has experienced an obvious fertility drop since the 1990s. Researches showed that social-economic growth played a more significant role than birth control policy in the process (Chen, 2005; Li, 2004). Analysis by Cai (2008) found that economic indicators are significantly related to total fertility rates in counties of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. However, there is a lack of analysis on the relationship between women’s status and fertility, which has been believed closely related, especially in fertility drop during a demographic transition. For example, gender equity and women development index is found closely related to TFR and natural increase rate in Jiangsu Province, with a correlation coefficient of -0.68. This paper will take a close look at the relationship between women’s status, women’s role in family decision making, and their childbearing opinions and intensions, by using a survey data from Jiangsu Province, which has a population of 74.68 million.