Age at Marriage and the First Birth Interval: The Emerging Change in Sexual Behavior Among Young Couples in China

Abstract

Rising age at first marriage and shortening of the interval between marriage and first birth are two prominent features of China's demographic transition during the past two decades. The increasing incidence of premarital sex and the rapid reduction in the first birth interval indicate a significant change in the sexual behavior of young Chinese couples. This change is an outcome of broad social transformations, including a move away from arranged marriages; increased formal education and nonfamilial employment; recent changes in sexual mores; and a strong government family planning program promoting birth control and later marriage. In contrast to other Asian societies that have also experienced a change in the pattern of sexual behavior among the young, in China such a change was the unintended consequence of actions of a forceful socialist state.