The Personal and the Political: Gender Equity and Attitudes toward Birth Restriction in Contemporary Urban China

Abstract

Birth rates have declined globally over the past several decades. Extensive research has applied the gender equity theory to examine the link between individuals’ gender role attitudes and their fertility ideations in postindustrial democracies. A puzzle remains: does individuals’ gender ideology still matter for their fertility ideation when the state constrains individuals’ rights to have children? The author turns to a postsocialist authoritarian setting and examines the link between individuals’ gender role attitudes and attitudes toward the state’s birth restriction in contemporary urban China. Using four waves of the China General Social Survey between 2010 and 2015, the author demonstrates that individuals with more egalitarian gender role attitudes show significantly stronger support for the state’s birth restriction that limits the number of children. This article highlights an underarticulated dimension in research on gender equity and fertility ideation: the role of the state and how individuals experience the state’s reproductive control.