The Influence Of Confucian Values On Family Decision-making

Culture is the soul of a country or nation,and Confucianism is the most basic cultural“gene”of the Chinese nation.Culture and values are usually a slow variable,but with the“impact”of China's market-oriented reforms and integration into globalization,it is worth looking at how traditional culture is“responding”.From the perspective of division of family work and women's labor participation,this study attempts to observe whether Confucian traditional culture is still influential in the rapid transformation of China's economic and social structure since the 21^stcentury and whether cultural values are still important factors influencing family decision-making.This study uses data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics(PSFD)to measure changes in the values of filial piety and family values in urban and rural families over the past 20 years since the turn of the century.An empirical model is constructed to observe the influence of Confucian values on employment choice and division of family work,to explore the differences in the influence of Confucian values on employment choice and division of family work among different groups of people,and to further examine how traditional cultural concepts affect families'preferences for social institutions and policy choices in a market economy.The main innovation of the study is to use a structured questionnaire and indicator system to measure Confucian values and their changing characteristics,to examine the influence of cultural values on family decision making and policy preferences,and to provide a perspective for understanding the change of cultural values and their influence with family decision making in China during the transition period.The main conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)With the development of market economic reform,the Confucian values did not show a sustained trend of weakening,but showed a general trend of deepening from 2004 to 2019.There is significant heterogeneity of concept identification among different groups.Males identify with Confucian values more than females,and the identification in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas.(2)The degree of identification with Confucian values shows a significant negative correlation with labor participation,the deeper the degree of filial values,the less likely one chooses to participate in labor market,with a marginal effect between-0.07 and-0.09.Filial values have a significant effect on labor participation only for females,and a weaker effect on labor participation for males.(3)The degree of identification with Confucian values is positively related to the duration of household services,the deeper the family concept,the longer the duration of participation in household services,but this effect is significant only for males,with a marginal effect around 0.36.(4)The connotation of Confucian cultural identification is gradually changing from“authority”to“reciprocity”,that is,the identification of Confucian values based on equality between generations of the two-way spiritual connection.(5)Confucian values influence households'preference for the choice of social institutions and policies in a market economy,especially for those with rural household registration,the stronger the Confucian values,the less likely they are to choose to participate in social insurance.The influence of culture is deeply rooted,and this study provides evidence of the far-reaching impact of culture on economic and social changes in the family.While China has undergone rapid economic and social transformations over the past four decades,and values have become diversified,traditional Confucian culture has a strong“resilience”and remains an important factor influencing family decisions and preferences.It is necessary to consider the subtle role of culture and values in China's labor market system,family policies,and public service system.Understanding the connotations of traditional cultural concepts can help to better manage the balance between individuals,families and the market.