Childhood and the Changing Value of Children in Urban China:A Three-generational Portrait
This article examines how the experience of childhood has changed in urban China against the back-drop of the political,social and economic transformations in the 20th century.Drawing on 95 life history inter-views in three urban cities in China,we explore the nature,origins and impact of continuities and changes in childhood experiences across three generations.While expressive intimacy between the only-child generation and their parents has increased,the three-generational comparison disputes previous theorizing about the mod-ernization of childhood and the value of children based upon Euro-American empirical reality.Rather than being trapped in a linear progression model,this article reveals that while the economic value of children as family helpers has dramatically reduced across three generations,the economic prospect of children as old age security goes hand in hand with the emotional value of children,which is shaped by the cultural tradition of filial piety,social welfare context and demographic structure.As a consequence,in contrast with the existing argument of an individualization of childhood in China,this article indicates that the youngest generation-the only-child gener-ation-experienced an increasing regimentalization of childhood,exercised by their parents and driven by both the neoliberal market and post-socialist state forces.This article also draws attention to the gender difference in childhood experience across three generations and reveals how the one-child policy has contributed to the in-creasing value of girls in urban China.
Childhoodgendergenerationlife history interviewsurban Chinavalue of children
NETL
NSTL
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