| Using 1985 China In-Depth Fertility Survey as data source and life course perspective as the theoretical framework, this study examines the effects of selected social and demographic factors on marital formation and dissolution in China. Among the sociodemographic factors examined are education, working status, urban/rural residence, marriage type, age at first marriage, age and time period. Findings show the existence of earlier marriage and higher marriage rates among women with lower education, who do not work, in the rural setting, with arranged marriages and during the earlier time periods, while higher divorce rates are observed among women with higher education, residing in the urban areas, with arranged marriages, marrying either below age 20 or above 25, aged below 22 at the survey and during 1951-65 and post 1980 periods. The present study also indicates that although the social, historical and political influences are powerful enough to have created important period effects, they are not able to eliminate differences in the patterns of marriage behavior among women with different sociodemographic backgrounds. |
