Education and fertility in two Chinese provinces: 1967-1970 to 1979-1982.

The rapid fertility decline in China during the 1970s coincided with rapid rises in the educational attainment of Chinese women, raising questions about the relative importance of educational change to fertility trends. To examine this association, fertility declines in the period 1967-70 to 1979-81 were compared in 2 Chinese provinces--Liaoning, and economically advanced province, and Sichuan, a relatively backward province. Data were derived from the large-scale One-per-Thousand Population Fertility Sampling Survey of 1982. The decline of fertility in the period under review occurred in both provinces in each of the educational subgroups and in the rural and urban sectors. However, the rate of decline was greater in Sichuan than in Liaoning; the total fertility rate fell by 55% in Sichuan compared to 23% in Liaoning, despite the fact that educational differentials between the 2 provinces persisted throughout the period. As a result of these rapid changes, by 1979-82, the total fertility rate and the total marriage-duration-specific fertility rate in Sichuan were lower than or equal to those of Liaoning in each rural educational subgroup and the overall urban fertility measures were also lower for Sichuan. Over the entire study period, changes in the percentage married at young ages could account for the majority of the fertility decline in the 15-24-year age group, with the educational differentials playing a small role. On the other hand, in the older age groups, marital fertility declines were the predominant factor. It is concluded that the magnitude of the fertility declines in both provinces across educational strata resulted from unusually powerful family planning program efforts, especially in Sichuan.