The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries Selected Studies (2005) / Chapter Skim
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8 Adolescent Transitions to Adulthood in Reform-Era China--Emily Hannum and Jihong Liu
8 Adolescent Transitions to Adulthood in Reform-Era China--Emily Hannum and Jihong Liu
Pages 270-319
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From page 270... ...
Suicide rates are dramatically higher among rural youth and young adults, especially young rural women. Wealthier adolescents and those in urban areas are more likely to be in school than their poor rural counterparts, and thus enjoy significant advantages in a labor market that increasingly rewards credentials.
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From page 271... ...
These changes have dramatically modified the context of adolescence over the past two decades. For many of China's youth, the market reform period has improved living standards and increased life choices in education, work, and family formation.
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From page 272... ...
Institute for Statistics, and education, marriage, and health data from the United Nations Millennium Indicators and the United Nations Common Database. To investigate attitudes about sexuality, we employ tabulated survey data from the 1997 National Reproductive Health Survey (Jiang, 2000)
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From page 273... ...
With the transition to markets in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the focus shifted to economic modernization, and this new orientation was clearly reflected in educational reforms aimed at efficiently producing an appropriately skilled labor force.4 A complex hierarchy of programs varying in length, quality, curriculum, and financial base supplanted the egalitarian structure of the Cultural Revolution education system. Classrooms moved away from a focus on egalitarianism and class struggle, instead emphasizing quality, competition, individual talents, and the mastery of concepts and skills important in the development of science and technology (Broaded, 1983; Kwong, 1985; Lin, 1993)
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From page 274... ...
Educational opportunities have increased dramatically in the years since the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. Using data from the 1989 and 1997 China Health and Nutrition Surveys, Figure 8-1 shows mean years of education by birth year for men and women ages 25 to 54 in both years.5 The year that each cohort would have reached age 15 is also labeled on the graph.
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From page 275... ...
At the primary level, gross enrollment ratios are over 100 throughout the reform period for girls and boys. At the secondary level, enrollment ratios were around 54 for boys and 37 for girls in 1980, around the time of the start of reforms.
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From page 276... ...
These concerns are in large part attributable to changes in education finance in the reform period. Major components of reform era education policy were the decentralization of the administration and finance of primary, secondary, and tertiary education and the privatization of costs (Lofstedt, 1990; Tsang, 2000)
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From page 277... ...
Sci. Other -- -- 97.0 29.3 5.7 3.7 48.2 12.3 0.8 -- -- 96.9 24.9 6.0 4.5 51.2 12.4 0.9 -- -- 96.3 24.6 5.8 6.1 48.5 14.2 0.8 -- -- 93.8 25.4 6.2 7.4 48.6 11.6 0.8 -- -- 92.5 25.1 7.0 8.8 48.0 10.3 0.8 -- -- 91.1 23.8 8.2 10.6 46.7 9.3 1.4 -- -- 90.4 24.4 7.7 11.2 46.8 9.2 0.7 97.0 90.2 89.9 24.7 6.7 11.2 47.3 9.4 0.7 97.2 90.8 88.8 24.6 6.4 12.0 46.9 9.4 0.7 97.3 91.3 87.9 24.6 6.1 12.4 46.5 9.7 0.7 97.4 91.9 87.5 24.3 5.8 12.6 46.8 9.9 0.7 97.6 92.4 87.2 24.5 5.6 12.5 46.8 10.0 0.6 97.8 92.9 86.6 24.2 5.7 13.1 46.6 9.8 0.6 98.0 93.4 85.3 22.8 7.5 25.1 36.9 7.1 0.6 98.2 94.0 84.5 16.4 6.4 9.4 53.2 8.9 5.6 98.4 94.5 84.2 -- -- -- -- -- -98.5 94.9 84.1 -- -- -- -- -- -98.7 95.3 83.7 -- -- -- -- -- -98.8 95.7 -- -- -- -- -- -- -99.0 96.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -99.1 96.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -99.2 96.7 -- -- -- -- -- -- - for schools, and has increased family educational expenditures needed even for compulsory education.7 Government concerns about these problems are evident in equity-oriented policies instigated throughout the reform period.
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From page 278... ...
278 P-Value NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS Female 74.2 96.0 83.5 58.9 42.9 0.00 82.8 71.1 0.00 59.6 68.2 78.4 83.3 0.00 80.0 60.5 69.4 81.5 87.2 0.00 Male 74.6 96.2 85.9 64.7 33.9 0.00 84.1 71.0 0.00 63.4 70.6 75.8 88.7 0.00 88.0 69.1 70.6 74.8 83.3 0.01 1997 N 1,494 413 442 407 232 406 1,088 134 511 544 285 40 338 480 281 355 P-Value 0.02 NS 0.02 NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS 0.04 NS NS NS NS Female 55.9 92.7 68.9 31.3 16.1 0.00 62.6 53.9 0.02 43.6 55.2 61.1 75.4 0.00 58.3 49.7 50.2 60.6 67.2 0.00 12-18 Male 61.0 93.1 77.4 38.3 17.2 0.00 68.5 58.7 0.01 51.1 58.5 67.9 74.7 0.00 83.3 54.4 56.7 64.8 70.3 0.00 Ages 522 582 581 306 465 374 940 509 160 54 409 665 588 275 Youth 1989 N 1,991 1,525 a b Rates, owned items education Enrollment residence head's consumer 8-3 high high+ quartile quartile of quartile quartile 12-13 14-15 16-17 18 P-value Urban Rural P-value None Primary Junior Senior P-value Missing Lowest 2nd 3rd Highest P-value TABLE Characteristic Total Age Urban-rural Household Number
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From page 279... ...
over who gender c asked, of waves, chi-square question, siblings, changes significant head the two children tests Nutrition surveys on the of not and household in from in 1997 are based economic within-gender household and items number result Health grandchildren, are to were the children more reflect to P-values 1989 rates rates China or To child d include NS: the consumer refers of One Two Three P-value Jiangsu Shandong Henan Hubei Hunan Guangxi Guizhou P-value Own Other P-value School-age Province Relationship Calculations Both Others a b goods? " lists cThis d NOTE: enrollment enrollment SOURCE:
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From page 280... ...
280 S S P-Value NS NS NS NS NS N NS N NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS SD 2.2 1.4 1.7 1.9 2.4 0.00 2.2 2.1 0.00 2.5 2.2 2.0 2.1 0.00 3.3 2.1 2.0 2.0 1.9 0.00 Female Mean 8.0 6.3 7.9 9.0 9.4 8.7 7.8 7.2 7.8 8.2 8.5 8.7 6.9 7.8 8.5 8.9 SD 2.2 1.4 1.4 1.9 2.7 0.00 2.3 2.2 0.00 2.7 2.1 2.2 2.1 NS 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.0 2.3 0.00 1997 Male Mean 8.0 6.2 8.1 9.1 9.3 8.4 7.9 7.6 8.0 8.0 8.3 7.2 7.4 7.9 8.3 8.7 S S 12-18 P-Value 0.01 NS 0.01 NS NS N 0.00 N NS NS NS NS 0.00 0.00 NS NS Ages SD 2.6 1.7 2.5 2.5 3.2 0.00 2.1 2.5 0.00 2.9 2.4 2.5 2.3 0.00 2.2 2.7 2.5 2.2 2.0 0.00 Youth a Female Mean 6.8 5.6 6.6 7.6 7.4 8.2 6.3 6.2 6.6 6.9 8.2 6.4 5.2 6.3 7.5 8.3 SD 2.2 1.6 1.7 2.2 2.5 0.00 2.1 2.1 0.00 2.4 2.1 2.0 2.1 0.00 2.3 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.1 0.00 Completed, 1989 Male Mean 7.0 5.4 7.1 7.9 7.9 7.9 6.7 6.5 6.8 7.3 8.3 6.8 6.2 6.8 7.5 8.2 School of owned Years items education Average residence head's consumer 8-4 high high+ quartile quartile of quartile quartile 12-13 14-15 16-17 18 P-value Urban Rural P-value None Primary Junior Senior P-value Missing Lowest 2nd 3rd Highest P-value TABLE Characteristic Total Age Urban-rural Household Number
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From page 281... ...
281 6 of for of (t start to case S S system the differences NS 0.03 NS NS NS N NS NS NS NS NS N a education in difference of assumed s, of used gender 2.1 2.1 2.1 0.00 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 1.9 2.2 0.00 2.2 2.0 ars test was of tests NS We ye n of ests t-t ender ANOVA 8.7 8.1 7.3 8.1 8.1 8.3 8.3 8.6 7.6 7.4 8.2 7.6 school? " educatio number or from within-g 2.1 2.1 2.0 0.00 2.9 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.3 0.00 2.2 2.2 total regular t-tests are results NS a the in from are measures 8.9 7.8 7.1 8.5 8.6 8.1 8.4 8.6 7.4 7.1 8.0 8.2 obtain college/university to all results measures completed and are you school schooling of school schooling have P-values S S middle of years NS NS 0.02 NS NS N NS NS NS NS NS N middle level.
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From page 282... ...
We checked enrollment rates and years of schooling for boys and girls by income quartile for 1989 and 1993, and compared results to our possession index quartile results. Socioeconomic gaps in enrollment and years of schooling were similar for both socioeconomic status measures, though the possession index measure appears somewhat more sensitive than the income measure in terms of differentiating school enrollment and years of schooling.
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From page 283... ...
283 b b b b a b b b b b 3.394 1.203 0.318 0.731 0.499 0.810 1.159 Combined (12.21)
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From page 284... ...
284 b b b a 0.532 1.200 1.633 0.042 Combined 0.120 (0.47)
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From page 286... ...
Multivariate analyses indicate that both socioeconomic status measures significantly predict enrollment and years of school completed in both survey years, net of other child and family background factors and provincial controls (see Tables 8-4 and 8-5)
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From page 287... ...
, followed by education (16.4 percent of tertiary students in 1994) ; the predominance of these two fields has not changed over the course of the reform period (see Table 8-2, Panel D)
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From page 288... ...
Evidence suggests that all social groups are benefiting from educational expansions, though important social differences in access persist. At the same time, new qualitative differences in the school system mean that experiences in school, and their implications for labor market opportunities, are increasingly diverging.12 ECONOMY AND LABOR Linked to educational changes are changes in youth labor force participation.
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From page 289... ...
Laborers between the ages 16 and 18 are barred from engaging in certain forms of physical work, including labor in mines. Ironically, with the abolishment of the job placement system for college graduates in the early 1990s, the gradual emergence of a labor market, the large-scale layoffs that have accompanied market reforms, and the underemployment of the rural workforce, policies that have emerged to protect against the employment of underage youth have coincided with rising government concerns about providing enough employment for working-age adolescents and young adults.
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From page 290... ...
SOURCE: China Health and Nutrition Survey. 25- to 29-year-olds; percentages were similar in 1990.
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From page 291... ...
tremendous requirements for manpower in the cities in low-level construction and manufacturing jobs, and more recently, in household service and related jobs, associated with urban market reforms; (3) the eradication of food coupon systems and the emergence of private housing and labor markets in cities; and (4)
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From page 292... ...
Census Bureau International Database (2002)
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From page 293... ...
This finding reflects the concentration of the population in rural areas, and the persisting educational disadvantage of rural youth. Rising numbers of these rural youth are moving in search of employment in cities, and are at risk of exploitation in the work
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From page 294... ...
Signaling a dramatic change in the lives of reproductive-aged women, the policy coincided with a drop in total fertility rates from 5.8 in 1970 to 2.2 in 1980 (Zhang, 2000)
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From page 295... ...
Examples of youth-oriented initiatives include offering new sex education programs in schools and communities,20 increasing the retail sales of condoms, and addressing problems of unwanted pregnancies among adolescents, especially college students, in urban areas. What are the trends in family formation in the reform period?
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From page 296... ...
The United Nations Common Database (code 1030) offers ready-made estimates of SMAM current status data, and represents the average number of years lived in the single state by those who marry prior to age 50.
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From page 297... ...
95) credits rapid economic development with contributing to the more recent recovery in age at first marriage: With the emergence of the labor market and new employment
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From page 298... ...
A strong population program that advocated late marriage may also have contributed to this delay. Finally, increased market access to contraceptives has allowed young people to engage in sexual activity with less worry about unwanted pregnancy, further delaying incentives for marriage.21 Given low marriage rates at young ages, and low rates of out-of-wedlock childbearing in China, it is not surprising that adolescent fertility rates are also low.
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From page 299... ...
On the eve of market reforms, health care access was widespread, if not high quality. Public health institutions were financed by the government, and public health services were provided to users at no cost (Liu and Mills, 2002)
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From page 300... ...
. Using longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey in 1991 and 1993, Wang, Popkin, and Zhai (1998)
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From page 301... ...
. A third health concern that is looming large for adolescents in the reform period is reproductive health.
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From page 302... ...
These findings suggest that the incidence of premarital sex has increased over time, and increases with higher social status. However, these figures are likely to underrepresent actual premarital sexual activities due to the rising availability of contraceptives and the use of abortions to prevent unwanted births.
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From page 303... ...
The 1997 National Reproductive Health Survey suggests that the vast majority of people continue to express attitudes unfavorable to premarital sex (see Table 8-10)
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From page 304... ...
304 to there are Refuse Answer 0.24 0.56 0.31 0.17 0.18 0.11 0.22 0.21 0.55 0.33 0.13 0.14 0.08 0.18 0.27 0.60 0.22 0.32 0.34 0.19 know, you Don't Know 19.25 28.40 15.53 16.00 18.37 20.76 19.03 20.22 27.49 15.55 16.69 18.64 20.36 18.58 20.12 31.85 15.47 13.54 17.40 21.76 people the Relatively Widespread 14.50 4.38 12.29 17.49 17.44 15.43 15.38 14.62 4.28 9.81 13.76 14.10 12.54 11.92 11.34 4.76 20.63 30.89 29.73 22.71 among Some Cases 11.73 8.83 13.43 13.16 12.21 11.74 10.93 10.52 8.18 11.82 10.52 10.44 9.73 9.26 9.12 11.31 18.83 22.61 18.75 16.79 behavior? " knowledge, this is your Occasional Cases 23.42 19.94 27.73 25.27 21.90 22.55 23.48 22.19 19.00 27.70 25.83 21.89 22.11 22.82 22.15 23.51 27.80 23.25 21.96 23.66 "To widespread No 30.87 37.90 30.71 27.91 29.90 29.40 30.95 32.24 40.50 34.78 33.07 34.80 35.18 37.23 37.00 9.39 how 27.98 17.04 11.82 14.89 Questions: yes, the If to women women women 336 446 628 592 524 1,620 1,944 2,881 2,776 1,840 2,223 1,929 1,284 1,498 2,253 2,184 1,316 1,652 1,481 3,545 N 15,213 All 15,213 Rural 11,668 Urban marriage?
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From page 305... ...
305 0.35 0.00 0.43 0.15 0.20 0.21 0.00 0.36 0.42 0.14 0.19 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.78 0.29 0.24 0.34 0.00 0.38 20.32 20.54 22.19 17.64 18.85 19.80 17.63 18.81 22.08 17.66 18.57 19.60 17.99 14.29 25.00 17.40 19.64 19.93 17.50 18.98 25.39 25.45 8.65 12.41 16.54 23.64 19.29 19.71 8.20 11.58 13.58 16.91 13.67 9.52 19.53 22.71 25.00 27.90 21.25 20.11 15.76 15.18 8.59 10.49 12.53 14.09 16.88 22.06 8.39 9.77 11.31 10.43 15.11 4.76 13.28 19.47 16.01 16.40 17.50 22.74 25.39 22.32 20.62 22.64 24.61 24.62 28.20 28.03 20.60 22.75 25.06 28.06 28.06 57.14 21.09 21.24 23.34 22.44 28.25 26.88 12.78 16.52 39.52 36.67 27.27 17.64 18.00 11.03 40.31 38.10 31.29 25.00 25.18 14.29 20.31 18.88 15.77 12.98 15.50 10.90 571 448 women women women 539 553 556 139 21 128 339 878 400 532 3,249 4,546 4,892 1,434 3,121 4,207 3,624 3,545 1,268 All 15,213 Rural 11,668 Urban schooling schooling schooling semiliterate schooling schooling (2000)
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From page 306... ...
women women women 336 446 628 592 524 571 448 before 1,620 1,944 2,881 2,776 1,840 2,223 1,929 1,284 1,498 2,253 2,184 1,316 1,652 1,481 3,545 N 15,213 All 15,213 Rural 11,668 Urban Responses sex of have can they Distribution 8-10 married, get age TABLE to Total By N 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 N 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 N 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49
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From page 307... ...
TRANSITIONS TO ADULTHOOD IN REFORM-ERA CHINA 307 0.86 0.55 0.61 0.84 0.37 0.72 0.87 0.57 0.55 0.18 0.72 0.00 0.78 0.29 0.79 1.25 0.25 0.75 7.94 6.25 5.19 6.35 7.98 8.68 7.88 6.16 4.86 5.04 7.91 4.76 9.38 7.37 6.15 7.18 8.00 8.83 80.39 80.55 80.78 79.85 79.59 75.23 80.26 80.48 82.53 82.01 79.86 85.71 83.59 81.42 75.79 78.47 79.50 74.81 9.52 6.25 10.80 12.65 13.41 12.97 12.06 15.37 10.99 12.79 12.06 12.77 11.51 10.91 17.27 13.10 12.25 15.60 women women 21 women 539 553 556 139 128 339 878 400 532 3,249 4,546 4,892 1,434 3,121 4,207 3,624 3,545 1,268 All 15,213 Rural 11,668 Urban schooling schooling schooling semiliterate schooling schooling (2000)
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From page 308... ...
Yet, adolescent and young adult nonmarital sexual activity carries numerous public health concerns not implied by sexual activity within the context of marriage. Importantly, public health concerns about the prevalence of premarital sex in China are made urgent by the rapid increase in HIV prevalence.
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From page 309... ...
These estimates show that, overall, suicide rates among rural residents were much higher than those of urban residents -- about three times as high. Women's rates were higher than men's, but the disadvantage faced by women was concentrated in rural areas.
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From page 310... ...
. Research on call-ins to mental health hotlines suggests that significant stressors, especially for women, include marital problems, pressures of extramarital or premarital affairs, family pressures, and education and employment pressures (Ji, 1999; Ji et al., 2001)
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From page 311... ...
These shifts can be characterized as favorable, from the perspectives of improving the educational composition of the population, reducing child labor, and promoting slower population growth. However, improved standards of living and norms of social openness associated with market reforms have raised the significance of behavioral health issues, such as smoking and premarital sexual activity.
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From page 312... ...
312 EMILY HANNUM AND JIHONG LIU 100 Not enrolled, 1989 Not enrolled, 1997 90 Married, 1989 Married, 1997 80 Employed, 1989 70 Employed, 1997 60 50 ercentageP 40 30 20 10 0 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Age FIGURE 8-4a Nonenrollment, employment, and marriage, Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey, females, 1989 and 1997. Not enrolled, 1989 100 Not enrolled, 1997 Married, 1989 90 Married, 1997 80 Employed, 1989 Employed, 1997 70 60 50 ercentageP 40 30 20 10 0 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Age FIGURE 8-4b Nonenrollment, employment, and marriage, Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey, males, 1989 and 1997.
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From page 313... ...
The lines of inequality are nowhere more painfully clear than in suicide rates, which are three times higher in the rural youth population, probably reflecting a combination of the poverty-related stressors that poor rural adolescents must cope with on a daily basis and their easy access to potent poisons. For reasons that remain murky, the toll is highest for young rural women.
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From page 314... ...
The system of education is absorbing increasing proportions of children and youth, but it is also becoming increasingly stratified in quality as a direct result of economic and education policy shifts in the reform period. Similarly, the public health system is struggling to address persisting and new health problems of adolescents in a context where access to care is much more dependent on ability to pay than in the past.
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From page 315... ...
. UNFPA/CFPA adolescent reproductive health pilot project final evaluation.
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From page 316... ...
. Data collection of the 1997 National Population and Reproductive Health Survey.
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From page 317... ...
. Needs of Chinese youths for reproductive health.
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From page 318... ...
. Reproductive health in the People's Republic of China.
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From page 319... ...
. Pay special attention to adolescent sex and reproductive health and rights.
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