Female Migration, Cultural Context, and Son Preference in Rural China

Abstract

How does female out-migration reconfigure gender values surrounding son preference in origin communities? We propose that the feminization of migration has the potential to infuse origin communities with economic and ideational changes that may challenge son preference. Rural China provides an interesting setting, both because its unprecedented labor out-migration has increasingly included women and because of its persistent son preference. Using data from rural China and instrumental variable regressions to adjust for potential endogeneity bias, this study shows that out-migration of women, but not of men, attenuates son preference among those in origin communities. The role of female out-migration transcends families with direct ties to migration and extends to the entire village. However, cultural context and family positions within that context condition the role of female migration: specifically, the preferences of individuals in families and villages embedded in strong patrilineal cultural practices are less likely to be shaped by female out-migration.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Sampling Strategy

This national survey was carried out by China Academy of Science, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CAS-CCAP). In selecting the sample, the country was divided into six commonly recognized geographical regions (State Council Development Research Centre 2002). One province was randomly chosen from each region, resulting in six provinces: Shaanxi (Northwest), Sichuan (Southwest), Hebei (Central North), Jilin (Northeast), Jiangsu (East/Central Coast), and Fujian (Southeast). All counties in each province were then sorted into five strata (quintiles) according to their per capita gross value of industrial output. One county was randomly selected from each stratum, yielding a total of 30 counties. All townships in each county were sorted into two groups according to per capita net income—one with per capita net income above the median and the other below the median. One township was randomly selected from each group (60 townships). Following the same procedure for selecting townships, two villages were chosen from each township, yielding a total of 120 villages. For each village, a random sample of 20 households, based on the village household registration list, was sought to complete the interview. In each household, one adult was randomly selected for a face-to-face interview. Because of disruptions caused by the massive Sichuan earthquake in 2008, three villages were dropped from the sample, resulting in a total of 117 villages. About 5 % of the sample was deleted due to missing information on any of the variables used in the analysis, yielding a final sample of 2196.

Appendix 2: Analyses of Remittance Behavior and Son Preference Using Supplementary Data on Migrants

We first examine the remittance behavior of migrants using supplementary data on migrants in China. The migrant data are from the 2009 Twelve-city Migrant Survey. They were collected at about the same time and used standardized survey methods and questionnaires that were similar to the rural data. The survey was conducted in 12 cities across four major urbanized regions: the Yangtze River Delta (Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province), the Pearl River Delta (Guangdong province), Chengdu–Chongqing region (Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality), and Bohai Bay Area (Hebei and Shandong Province). In each of the four urbanized regions, one megalopolis (with an urban population of more than 2 million), one large city (500,000–2 million), and one small-medium-sized city (<500,000) were randomly selected. Due to the huge number of migrants in the megalopolis, only one urban district was sampled. In the large and small-medium-sized cities all urban districts in the city were targeted. Then 200 migrants were randomly selected in each city from the migrant registration list provided by the local Public Security Bureau or by the local government migrant administrative agency. The survey resulted in 2398 migrants.

Results are displayed in Fig. 2 in “(Appendix 2: Analyses of Remittance Behavior and Son Preference Using Supplementary Data on Migrants section)”. Among unmarried migrants, women remit at a significantly higher rate to their parents than do men (67 vs. 60 %), net of a range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Among married migrants, the rate increases for men and decreases for women, but the gender difference is small and insignificant. These findings show the enduring commitment of many migrant daughters to their natal families. Although many migrant women face precarious work and living conditions in destinations and family life-cycle changes such as marriage may slightly alter migrant women’s remittance patterns, they continue to remit their hard earned income to origin families.

Fig. 2

Predicted probability of sending remittances to own parents in the past year among Chinese migrants. Based on logistic regressions controlling for age, education, years since migration, whether the respondent has children left behind, number of provinces the migrant has been to, whether currently within-province migration, whether self employed, per capita family income at destination, current place of residence. This analysis was restricted to rural-origin migrants. The gender difference for unmarried migrants is significant at 0.05 level (indicated by *). The gender difference for married migrants is insignificant

We also compare the degree of son preference between migrants and rural residents, and between female and male migrants. As shown in Fig. 3 in “(Appendix 2: Analyses of Remittance Behavior and Son Preference Using Supplementary Data on Migrants section)”, values surrounding son preference are weaker for urbanward migrants than for rural residents. Specifically, when asked to what degree the respondent feels that it is necessary to have at least one son, over 60 % of rural residents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, compared to less than 45 % of rural-to-urban migrants. In addition, female migrants tend to hold more egalitarian attitudes toward having a son than male migrants. We also examine changes in attitudes by duration of migration and find that the longer migrants stay in destination, the more gender egalitarian views they hold (β = −0.011, s.e. = 0.004, p = 0.003).

Fig. 3

Attitudes toward son preference by migration status, and among migrants by gender. Son preference is measured by agreement or disagreement with the statement: “I think that it is necessary to have at least one son.” Chi square test is significant at the 0.001 level for rural-migrant comparison, and significant at the 0.002 level for female-male comparison