Prof.  Sampson Lee  Blair
Department of Sociology, The State University of New York (Buffalo),  USA

Title: Marriage, Fertility, and Modernization: A Comparison of Global Changes and Changes in China

Abstract:

Around the globe, changes in family structures and norms have resulted in a substantial transformation of many of the basic attributes of families and family life.  Marriage rates have been steadily declining in many countries.  In conjunction with decreasing marriage rates, fertility rates have also been decreasing in many nations.  At the same time, rates of cohabitation, along with rates of singlehood, have been rising.  Simply, in the perspectives of many young adults, marriage and childbearing are not their primary goals, particularly when considered relative to their desires to attain greater personal success (e.g., educational attainment, occupational attainment, income).  These patterns of lower rates of marriage and fertility are also occurring within a larger cultural context, wherein divorce rates, on the global scale, have been rising.  Again, from the perspective of young adults, divorce may represent an undesirable outcome to marriage, which can be avoided by choosing not to marry, at all.  Even among those who do marry, the average age at first marriage has been increasing, which also has implications for subsequent rates of fertility.  All of these changes have been associated with modernization, along with urbanization, cultural and political change, as well as technological change.

       In the case of China, many of these global patterns are also present.  Over recent decades, China has experienced lower rates of marriage, higher ages at marriage among those who do marry, higher rates of cohabitation, high levels of divorce, and, most notably, declines in its total fertility rate.  All of these shifts are associated with many of the same factors which are occurring on the global scale.  However, Chinese culture has long promoted the expectation that individuals should marry and have child, and thus continue the family lineage.  These cultural norms have existed for thousands of years, yet are now contending with the societal changes resulting from modernization.  In order to better comprehend the nature of changing marriage and fertility patterns in China, this study uses data from a multi-year survey of young women and men enrolled in public universities in China.  Overall, the findings demonstrate that both women and men express strong preferences for marriage, but at later ages than in previous generations.  Furthermore, while both females and males report a desire to have children, the overall preferred numbers of children are decreasing, over time.  These findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of modernization, and comparisons between these changes in China and the larger global patterns are discussed.

Keynote Presentation for the 11th International Psychology and Health Conference (PHC 2023), Chengdu, China – June 2 through June 4, 2023

Biography:

Dr. Sampson Lee Blair is a family sociologist and demographer at The State University of New York (Buffalo).  His research focuses upon parent-child relationships, with particular emphasis on child and adolescent development.  In 2010, he received the Fulbright Scholar Award from the U.S. Department of State, wherein he studied parental involvement and children’s educational attainment in the Philippines.  He has examined a wide variety of relationship dynamics within families.  His recent research has focused upon marriage and fertility patterns in China.
He has served as chair of the Children and Youth research section of the American Sociological Association, as senior editor of Sociological Inquiry, Guest Editor of Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, and on the editorial boards of Asian Women, Journal of Applied Youth Studies, Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, Journal of Family Issues, Marriage and Family Review, Social Justice Research, Sociological Inquiry, International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, and Sociological Viewpoints.  He also serves on the international advisory board of Tambara, which is based at Ateneo de Davao University, in the Philippines.  In 2018, he was elected as Vice-President (North America) of the Research Committee on Youth (RC34), in the International Sociological Association.  In 2021, he received the Distinguished Career Service Award from the American Sociological Association, for his work with children and youth.
He is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and has taught abroad as a visiting professor at Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) and University of Santo Tomas, in the Philippines.  In China, he has taught at Qingdao University, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and at East China Normal University (Shanghai). Since 2011, he has served as the editor of Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research.