The Change in Marriage and Childbearing Culture in China and Its Influence on the Fertility Rate

Abstract

With the rapid development of modern society, China’s marriage and childbearing culture has also undergone great changes, but there is little discussion on the influence of the change of marriage and childbearing culture on the fertility rate. Through research, it is found that in China’s traditional marriage and childbearing culture, people’s marriage and childbearing behavior is greatly influenced by the family, so “early marriage and early childbearing”, “multiple births and childbearing”, and “preference for male children” are significant features in the traditional marriage and childbearing culture. After entering modern society, China has gradually formed a new modern marriage and childbearing culture, and materialism has gradually replaced familism, in which materialism is essentially a low fertility culture. Therefore, under the influence of a series of intermediary factors, this new marriage and childbearing culture has kept the fertility rate at a low level.