Menghan Zhao

My current research focuses on Chinese family changes, fertility trend and related socioeconomic determinants. I try to understand the underlying mechanisms driving the quiet revolution that transforms gender relations and women’s childbearing behaviors in contemporary China. My analysis suggests that 1) the birth control policies still affect Chinese women’s childbearing behavior, even for educated young women, 2) different motherhood stages are related with different economic outcomes in urban China, and this relationship varies with the development of local labor market, and 3) both women with more and less gender egalitarian attitudes tend to have higher fertility intentions. By adopting gendered fertility theory, my research further discusses the implications for public policies in the realm of families, gender and population.