The Inter-Generational and Generational Social Changes - Essay Example

ANTHROPOLOGY Student’s name Course code + name Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission Introduction China has witnessed significant inter-generational and generational changes over the past decades. There are a number of aspects that have changed in the Chinese society. For instance, gender roles in the traditional Chinese family have undergone significant changes. The Chinese society has also undergone changes in social relations, gender inequality, marriage behaviours including cohabitation and divorce and the second demographic transition, elderly support and co-residence. The essay discusses the inter-generational and generational changes of the Chinese family with regard to gender roles, change in social systems education, marriage, mortality, life expectancy and elderly support and co-residence. The inter-generational and generational social changes A study conducted by Chu and Yu (2010) provides empirical evidence regarding the traditional family setup for the Chinese society. There is substantial evidence about the decision of guardians and parents in the traditional Chinese family to sacrifice the education of their older daughters so as to fund the education of the younger sons. The families attached more significance to educating sons as compared to daughters. The research conducted on the elderly Taiwanese parents also revealed that the financial support that elderly parents received from their sons was more than the support that they received from their daughters. Chinese families also present the same opinion regarding the essence of educating sons as compared to daughters (Chu & Yu 2010). As a result, daughters could only have a guarantee of access to education in the vent that the family was either in a position of educating both male and female children or if there are only daughters in the family. The last six decades have presented a period where China has witnessed several changes associated with its social systems. There are a number of revolutionary movements that are responsible for the changes that the country has witnessed. It is evident that the movements were responsible for the founding of the country in 1949. The movements include the Communist Revolution, the economic reform that commenced in 1978 and the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution. Following the institution of the Marriage Law in 1956, the interests and rights of wives were equal to those of their husbands. Moreover, Chinese individuals had a free choice of marriage (Xie 2013). As a result, the country witnessed a rapid transition or change in the social status attached to the female individual. Consequently, there was a significant impact on the marriage behaviours witnessed in the nation. The median age associated with first marriages was the first aspect to feel the change in women’s social status. For instance, the median age for the 1940s birth cohort was 20 years. However, the median age increased to 23 for the 1980s birth cohort. From the statistics, it is evident that the median age increased by three years for women as compared to the median age for men that rose by one year from 24 to 25. Status hypergamy was one of the observable features observed in the Chinese society. It refers to the propensity of women to marry men that are of a better or comparatively higher social status as compared to theirs (Xie 2013). Traditional China has witnessed the behaviour for an extended period of time. It is worth noting that the norm has stood firm in contemporary China. The notable difference has been in the individuals that are responsible for selecting the marriage partners. In the traditional society, the selection of the partners was a responsibility of the parents. However, towards the end of the twentieth century and into the modern society, love is the determinant of marriage. In the past, women also preferred to marry men that had attained higher educational levels. However, the fact that women have been moving towards closing the educational gap between them and men has reduced the difference. Currently, women prefer to marry men that are older than them on the belief that such men would have amassed substantial amounts of wealth to create the difference. Young persons that intend to enter marriage life have felt the impact of the economic boom witnessed in the country due to its contribution towards increasing the consumption aspirations. As a result, men with primary school education born after 1974 remained singe even after attaining the age of 32 years (Xie 2013). However, the results were different among the educated men since they portrayed universal trends in marriage by achieving marriage within the set age limits. Therefore, economic factors have had an immense contribution on marriage entry (Zhang et al. 2014). It is proper to state that the contemporary China does not attach any significance to the arranged marriage particularly in urban China. For instance, the 50-year period ranging between 1930 and 1980 witnessed a decline in arranged marriages in urban China from 54.7% to 0.9%. Moreover, the proportion of marriage couples introduced by relatives declined from 24.4% to 15.8% within the 50 years. However, the proportion of marriages emanating from free courtship where there is oneself introduction to the partner or where a friend introduces another to the partner increased. For instance, marriages emanating from free courtship increased from 15.3% to 50.8% (friend) and 4.99% to 32.8% (oneself). Moreover, there has been diversity in the selection of mates between the traditional Chinese society and the contemporary China (Zhang et al. 2014). The “oneself” selection of marriage mates in urban areas is more prevalent as compared to the rural areas. The matching of socio-economic statuses was the norm in selecting the marriage mates in the traditional China. However, the situation is a bit different in contemporary China. In the modern China, some of the factors that influence the choice of the marriage partner include the level of education, the physical appearance, the occupation, the temperament and the moral standing. According to Sheng (2005), 50.29% regard moral standing as the main factor considered in the selection of a marriage partner. However, splitting the results to the urban population reveals different results since educational level stood out as the primary factor of consideration in selecting a marriage partner. Individuals in the urban areas also consider the occupation as a major factor in the selection of a partner (Whyte 2005). The rapid development of modern technologies in contemporary China has elevated educational level and occupation to be the primary factors under consideration in the selection of a marriage partner. As mentioned before, the increase in the marriage age is also an inter-generational change witnessed in the contemporary China. The traditional China preferred early marriages rather than late marriages. The ancient China considered the age of 16 and 14 to be the lawful age for marriage for boys and girls respectively. The era of the Republic of China that lasted between 1912 and 1949 witnessed an increase in the age to 18 for boys and 16 for girls. Despite the increase in the marriage ages, Zhang (1993) reiterates that early marriages were still predominant during the era. The succeeding new republic era increased the ages to 20 for boys and 18 for girls respectively. The passing of the marriage law in 1981 increased the ages even further. The assigned ages of marriage by the law were 22 for boys and 20 for girls. Legal enforcements in conjunction with input from the government have encouraged later marriages and later childbirth. The marriage ceremony is the other social aspect that has witnessed generational changes over the decades. In the ancient China, the marriage ceremony sufficed to be one of the most significant ceremonies. China practiced the civil marriage ceremony during the Qing Dynasty that ended in 1911 (Sheng 2005). The era of the Republic of China practised both the marriage registration system and the civil marriage ceremony system. Ever since 1949, most marriages in China adopted the marriage registration system. In the modern China, the marriage registration system comprises of both the official registration of the marriage partners and a wedding dinner party. During the party, the couple invites relatives and friends to recognise and celebrate the marriage. The social and economic statuses of the marriage couples determine the size of the wedding party. Contrary to the traditional society, housing prices have also had a significant influence on entry into marriage especially in urban areas. The higher housing prices in urban centres have compelled men to marry at later ages. However, the delay in the entry into marriage has also had a positive influence on the education levels attained by individuals prior to the entry into marriage. A combination of the improvement in the socio-economic status of women, a rise in hypergamy, and the higher consumption aspirations have had an immense contribution on the economic pressures associated with marriage (Xi 2013). Gender Roles and the Traditional Chinese Family Family refers to a group of persons connected by either blood or marriage. The family suffices to be the most elementary residential, economic and social collective unit in most global societies; with the Chinese society being no exception. Different societies exhibit diverse manifestations and significance of the family. It is evident that there is a substantial difference between the traditional Chinese family and the modern family that traces its origin and attributes from Western Europe. Chu and Yu (2010) heighten the paramount significance of family lineage in the traditional Chinese society. The tradition of the traditional Chinese society states that individuals do not have the sole role of perpetuating the family lineage (Stafford 2000). On the other hand, it is the responsibility of both the living persons and the ancestors with the latter handling the spiritual roles. The traditional Chinese society believes that ancestors are still active in the world of the living even after their death. Therefore, it is the obligation of the living to worship them by respecting them through family rituals and offering sacrifices. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of the ancestors to offer assistance and protection to the living individuals. From the description, it is proper to consider ancestors in the traditional Chinese society as gods. Moreover, every family clan had its folk religion. The godly status that the Chinese individuals attached to their ancestors has physical implications to the everyday lives of the individuals with regard to filial piety. According to Whyte (2004), filial piety necessitates that grandchildren or children should take care of their grandparents and parents. The apparent attributes of the traditional Chinese family include patrilineal, patrimonial, patriarchal and patrilocal (Sheng 2005). As a result, the social advantage held by women is lower than that held by their male counterparts. The traditional Chinese society always attached rational bases to gender inequality. The family system considers sons to be permanent members of the family. As a result, the financial relationships between sons and their parents or family were life-time. The system required sons to contribute towards the economic well-being of their parents even after entering marriage. From the understanding of the society, parents found it imperative and self-interest to invest in their sons more than their daughters. The incentive behind the investment was the fact that the parents believed that the benefits that would reap from investing in their sons was life-time and long-lasting. The traditional understanding of the female child is also different to the modern understanding. As a matter of fact, the traditional society considered the female child to be a temporary member of the family (Sheng 2005). In fact, the system considered the female child to be a member of the family only before the child enters marriage. However, upon the entry of a young woman into marriage, the individual ceases to be a full member of the family. Instead, the woman becomes part of the husband’s family. The society expected to serve the extended family of her husband upon entering marriage. In the quest to make maximum utility of the little time that parents had with their daughters, they benefited from the remittances provided by their daughters from housework and market labour. The parents used the remittances to invest in their sons and improve the budget of their family. Elderly Support and Co-residence Until now, multi-generational families continue to dominate the Chinese society. According to Lei at al. (2013), approximately 43% of the elderly individuals aged 60 and above are still living with a child. The percentage of elderly individuals living with a child is higher among rural populations as compared to urban populations. Moreover, in most of the cases, the elderly co-reside with their sons rather than daughters. The patrilocal and patrilineal nature of the traditional Chinese family provides the first explanation behind the fact that the elderly aged at least 60 years are still living with children. The traditional system reveals that a significant proportion of the elderly persons prefer staying with a child to staying alone. On the other hand, it is proper to associate the trend to the existence of insufficient public support system for the aged individuals in the society. As a result, the elderly consider children to be a source of support in their everyday activities. Moreover, there exist higher frequencies of financial transfers between elderly individuals and their children. China witnessed its first demographic transition from a nation characterised by high mortality and high fertility to a country of low mortality and low fertility by the 1990s (Yi & Lin 2009). Moreover, the country witnessed the second demographic transition that entailed the emergence of non-traditional practices such as out-of-wedlock childbirths, divorce and cohabitation (Xie 2011). It is proper to observe that cases of out-of-wedlock childbirths are almost zero. However, there has been an increase in the number of cohabitations and divorce in the modern Chinese society. For instance, in 1979, the crude divorce rate was .3 per thousand. In 1990, the rate had risen to .7 per thousand thereby reflecting a .4 increase. By 2000, the rate had climbed to 1.0. Recent statistics reveal that the rate had further escalated to 2.1 in 2010. It is also evident to state that premarital cohabitation was virtually absent before 1980. However, Xu, Li and Yu (2013) revealed that premarital cohabitation accounted for approximately one-third of the marriage cohort between 2010 and 2012. The more developed coastal cities of Guangdong and Shanghai have exhibited higher cases of premarital cohabitation. However, the rates are low in the less developed inland areas such as Gansu. Moreover, there is a linear positive relationship between cohabitation and education. Therefore, contrary to the traditional system that did not entertain premarital cohabitation, the modern China has exhibited increasing tolerance to cohabitation as a living arrangement that precedes marriage. Living Arrangements and Widowhood China is encountering the challenge of a rapidly ageing population just like the other emerging economies in the world. As a result, it is proper to state that a significant proportion of the population will enter widowhood in the few years to come. The “4-2-1” framework is responsible for increasing longevity and the emergence of the “one-child” policy (Davis & Harrell 1993). The framework necessitates that families should comprise of four grandparents, 2 adult children and a single grandchild. It is apparent that the proposed family structure will culminate into the increasing overreliance of the elderly individuals on support provided by their children. The limited number of young individuals resulting from the framework induces substantial doubt to the ability of the system especially the young adults to cater for the high number of aged individuals requiring elderly support. As a result, the society will require additional sources of elderly support such as the establishment of institutions to cater for the increasing demand for the services. According to Whyte (2003), adult children have considered the welfare of parents to be their primary responsibility in the traditional family setup in China. The demographic strains on intergenerational dependence have entrenched filial obligations thereby necessitating the establishment of supplementary social care institutions to take care of the aged individuals in the society. Even though the “one-child” policy has performed well in managing the ever increasing population in China, Chinese families and policy makers are finding it difficult to deal with the imbalance. Therefore, the intergenerational and general changes such as decreased fertility and mortality, changing consumption behaviours and attitudes and living arrangements characterised by marked urbanisation, global integration and development will impact negatively on the ability of adult children to cater for their parents. In fact, in the event that the filial piety of the children gets diminished, the elderly generation will succumb to neglect and isolation by their adult children (Gu et al. 2007). Over the past 50 years, China has also witnessed an increase in life expectancy emanating from the popularisation of the modern techniques such as child and maternal hygiene and the introduction of reliable contraceptives. The other incentives behind the high life expectancy include government legislation and policies that advocate for the “one-child” policy and the tremendous development of the social economy. During the 1940s, the country recorded a gross fertility rate of 5.813. At the same time, the infant mortality rate was approximately 20% with a life expectancy of 34 years. By 1999, approximately five decades later, the fertility rate had declined to 1.9. The infant mortality rate and life expectancy decreased and increased respectively to 3.2% and 70.1 years. Gender roles have also portrayed intergenerational and generational changes over the years. In ancient China, the society had set clear and distinct roles for both men and women. For instance, men were responsible for ploughing the fields as the women would weave. Generally speaking, “the man could sing as the woman follows”. During the 2000 years of China’s feudal society, the society has transitioned from the Confucianism codes to the feudal ethical codes. The dominion of the man and patriarchy formed the bases that guided Chinese ethics and ideology. Apparently, the domination of the man accompanies the subordination and oppression of the woman with regard to the “three obedience laws and four virtues”. The three laws of obedience required the woman to obey her father before entering marriage, obey her husband while in marriage and obey her son following the death of her husband. The four virtues encompass morality, modest manner, diligent work and proper speech. However, the situation is completely different in contemporary China. The law has granted women equal rights in political, social, family life, educational and economic issues. The recent decades have witnessed changes in the living arrangements of the aged individuals from dependent to independent arrangements. Rather than having to live with a young child for the provision of support to the elderly as was the case in the traditional system, the modern Chinese society has witnessed an increase in the number of aged individuals that live alone. Even though the oldest among the elderly individuals live with their children for support, it is evident that the proportion of nanogenarians and octogenarians among other elderly adults that live alone ranges between 6% and 13% (Zeng 2004). The fact that there exist some of the oldest aged individuals in China that live lone lives implies that the adults in question are independent. As a result, they prefer living independent lives to looking up to their children for support. By so doing, the aged persons only decide to divide or separate from their children rather than departing completely from them. The other implication of the increasing cases of independence among the elderly is the fact that the oldest population among the elderly individuals do not rely on their adult children for support (Sheng 2005). Instead, they depend on their grandchildren for support so as to offload the burden carried by the adult children while transitioning from the young adult stage to the elderly stage. The oldest individuals may also depend on formal institutions and non-relatives for the provision of support rather than depending on their already ageing children. It is also possible that the subpopulation of the oldest individuals may be living in living arrangements characterised by lack and want. As a result, there may be no adult children or grandchildren to cater for their social and instrumental needs. Conclusion Inter-generational and generational relations have changed significantly in the Chinese family setup. A few decades ago, Chinese parents and guardians attributed higher significance to the education of their sons as compared to their daughters on the basis that sons were permanent members of the family whereas daughters were temporary members. However, the situation is different in the modern Chinese family following the passing of laws that grant the female child equal rights to education. Moreover, the domination and supremacy of man at the expense of the oppression and subordination of women also characterised the ancient Chinese family. However, the introduction of equal rights in educational, social, economic, political and family life aspects in contemporary China has eliminated the ancient gender divide. Finally, China has also transformed from nuclear families comprising of many children to families having one child. Reference List Chu. 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