Tong Yuying, Zheng Bingdao
Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
Department of Public Administration, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Demography. 2024 Dec 1;61(6):2027-2051. doi: 10.1215/00703370-11686478.
Having children is widely regarded as one of the most important benefits and purposes of marriage, particularly in societies that uphold traditional family values. Consequently, the suppression of fertility could have far-reaching implications for marital life that transcend childbearing itself. Previous studies have examined the impact of health-induced fertility suppression, but a gap remains in understanding how policy-induced fertility restrictions affect marital satisfaction. This study employs a nationally representative sample to examine whether Chinese couples' marital satisfaction improves when the potential marital utility on fertility is enhanced following the transition from the one-child to the universal two-child policy in China. Using a difference-in-differences design, the study finds that men who desire multiple children experience increased marital satisfaction after the policy change. Conversely, the same is not observed for women. Our study provides compelling evidence that the increase in marital satisfaction for husbands is driven by the improved evaluation of the marital fertility value rather than other unintended policy effects. Further, the policy-induced satisfaction improvement is more pronounced among men with more severely constrained or deeply ingrained fertility desires. The article discusses the broad impact of fertility policy on family life, the gender-imbalanced perception of this policy shift, and its theoretical and policy implications.
生育子女被广泛视为婚姻最重要的益处和目的之一，尤其是在秉持传统家庭价值观的社会中。因此，生育抑制可能会对婚姻生活产生深远影响，其影响范围超越生育本身。以往的研究探讨了健康因素导致的生育抑制的影响，但在理解政策导致的生育限制如何影响婚姻满意度方面仍存在空白。本研究采用全国代表性样本，以考察在中国从独生子女政策过渡到全面二孩政策后，当生育的潜在婚姻效用增强时，中国夫妇的婚姻满意度是否会提高。通过使用双重差分设计，研究发现，想要多个孩子的男性在政策变化后婚姻满意度有所提高。相反，女性则未出现这种情况。我们的研究提供了有力证据，表明丈夫婚姻满意度的提高是由对婚姻生育价值的评价改善所驱动，而非其他意外的政策效应。此外，在生育愿望受到更严重限制或根深蒂固的男性中，政策导致的满意度提高更为明显。本文讨论了生育政策对家庭生活的广泛影响、对这一政策转变的性别失衡认知及其理论和政策含义。
