Intergenerational transfers in rural China: Do children's gender and birth order matter

This dissertation is a unique case study of the effects of children's birth order and gender on intergenerational transfer motivations in rural China. Intergenerational transfer motivations are critical determinants in public transfer programs and policies in Western countries such as United States. However, these concepts are relatively new within the Chinese culture, and the effects of children's birth order and gender have not previously been examined with regard to intergenerational transfers involving rural Chinese elders.The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the factors that affect intergenerational transfers (b) to explore motivations for the transfer of income and time from the perspective of rural-dwelling Chinese parents and (c) to compare and contrast motivations for intergenerational transfers by children's gender and birth order from the perspective of Chinese parents.A stratified multistage method was used to randomly select 1,224 potential respondents from the Chaohu area, Anhui Province, China, and data were collected in 2009. After the exclusion of participants who failed to pass the cognitive test, the sample size for the present study was 1,165. Findings demonstrated that children's birth order had a significant effect on intergenerational transfer motivations from parents' perspectives. However, children's gender did not play any role in determining the motivations for intergenerational transfers. Implications for government policy and future research are discussed.