中国育龄妇女的生育意愿研究

Fertility Desire of Married Women in China

文章根据中国最近的生育意愿调查,分析了不同地区育龄妇女的生育意愿。各种调查比较一致地显示,中国育龄妇女的理想子女数大多是两个孩子。在经济发展较快、社会保障体制相对完善、城市化进程较快的东部地区,农村居民的生育意愿与城市居民接近;即使在生育意愿最高的西部农村地区,也仅有少数妇女有多子女偏好。生育意愿的差距已经缩小到仅仅是一孩和二孩的差别。强烈的性别偏好已成为影响生育行为的主要因素。

This paper reviews and analyses the fertility desire of married Chinese women, according to the results from different surveys. It shows that most women claim that having two children is ideal. In eastern China with faster economic development, relatively better social welfare system, and a rapid process of urbanization, rural residents' fertility desire approaches to its level of urban residents. Although the fertility desire reported is the highest in western rural China, only a small proportion of women prefer to have more than two children. The reported fertility desire only differs from one child to two children, while the strong gender preference has become a key determinant to fertility behavior.