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Background: In China, an increasing number of rural mothers participate in urban labour markets, but little is known about their decisions regarding childcare while living in these cities. Why do some rural mothers migrate to the cities with their children, whereas others leave their children behind in the countryside?, Methods: This study analysed 1852 samples from the 2016 China Migrant Dynamic Survey of rural migrant mothers collected in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). These mothers were registered with agricultural hukou outside of the PRD and had at least one child under 18 years of age., Results: The results indicated that 57.8% of these mothers migrated together with their children. Rural migrant mothers who were self-employed, had a higher level of household income on a log 10 scale and had a longer duration of migration were more willing to adopt closely performing motherhood than rural migrant mothers who were not self-employed. Additionally, rural working mothers who were intra-provincial migrants and had a smaller number of children were more likely to bring their children to the cities than rural working mothers who were inter-provincial migrants., Conclusions: This study works to strengthen the understanding of rural migrant working mothers' childcare strategies, provide insights for future policy studies and contribute to evidence-based recommendations for policymakers regarding internal rural-to-urban migration, migrant women and the wellbeing of the families of migrants., (© 2024 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Reform initiatives are common throughout the Chinese early years education sector. This paper proposes a conceptual framework of a folk pedagogy of change as a perspective on the systemic barriers to the development of practice which foregrounds some of the tensions within and across these barriers. Our analysis is based on three commissioned literature reviews and site visits with practitioners and parents to Chinese Kindergarten and early years settings. The use of situated learning theory as a perspective for analysing interconnected and interdependent organisations is offered as a way of extending our understanding of educational change. This enables a move beyond a simplistic and essentialist notion of culture which locates implementation problems at the incompatibility of varied cultural perspectives. A folk pedagogy of change can help to understand why a range of educational contexts might be resistant to externally generated ideas for educational change.

International comparative ethnographic studies of ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) are difficult to conduct but worth the effort. Comparative studies featuring thick description and polysemic interpretations can challenge taken-for-granted assumptions, expand the menu of the possible, expose the provincialism of national approaches, and illuminate the global circulation of ECEC practices and ideas. Based on reflections on four major comparative international studies I have led, in this paper I describe effective strategies for conducting comparative ethnographic research in ECEC settings, explicate the rationale for doing so, and provide examples of how this approach can impact research, practice, and policy. Issues I address include the rationale for selecting countries for comparison, the formation of a research team, and distributing interpretive voice and power.

Rural children belong to an educationally disadvantaged group whether they migrate or remain in their villages. Using a specially designed questionnaire, this paper surveyed more than 2,500 migrant and left-behind children in the Xixiangtang District of Nanning in Mainland China on issues relating to education and mental state. Through comparisons of migrant and nonmigrant children and those who had and had not been left behind, this study found that migrant children are unable to enter public schools due to incomplete documents, and also experience problems with a safe commute to and from school, after-school care, etc.; left-behind children are more likely to experience problems with emotional deprivation, dull after-school life, susceptibility to disease, and poor habits. With respect to mental state, some of the survey questions showed no significant differences, whereas others displayed significant divergences. It can be seen that both migrant and left-behind children experience problems with educational difficulties, poor discipline, and poor mental adaptability, and are in a clearly disadvantaged position. This paper recommends that the government, schools, society, and families jointly cooperate to strengthen emotional guidance for migrant children and left-behind children and ensure that no child is abandoned, allowing migrant children to grow and learn healthily in their respective environments. [This article was translated by Carissa Fletcher.]

This paper reviews the development of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in China. The historical context from 1900 is summarised, and then developments from the 1980s up to the present kindergarten expansion movement, starting in 2010, are covered in detail. The review shows that ECEC development in China has undergone great changes both in policy and practice. The clash between progressive ideas and existing kindergarten practices has been and remains a challenge. The "cultural appropriateness issue" is of concern, and there are strong voices for keeping valuable aspects of Chinese traditional culture. China has put great efforts recently into boosting kindergarten participation nationwide; yet, there have been and remain great social economic disparities at various levels. There is also growing concern that the programme quality cannot be maintained with the rapid kindergarten expansion process. Policy development for the childcare sector (0-3) in China is relatively thin compared to recent booms for kindergartens.

Although studies on teacher identity have proliferated in recent years, and examinations of the said topic have been conducted under various educational contexts, limited focus has been given to teacher identity in the early childhood educational context. Drawing upon data from semi-structured interviews with five early childhood teachers, this case study aims to investigate how early childhood teachers make sense of their work and the type of professional identities constructed by early childhood teachers in mainland China. The five early childhood teachers reported strong disagreements with the babysitter metaphor for their teacher identities, and they had various role identities including "parents", "teachers", "friends", "dancers", "artists", and "engineers". The findings also show that they recognized the significance and value of their job as early childhood teachers. This paper concludes with implications for early childhood teacher education.

Career progression is a general concern of professional working mothers in China. The purpose of this paper is to report a qualitative study of Chinese professional working mothers that explored the perceptions of online Master's of Business Administration (MBA) programmes as a tool for career progression for working mothers balancing work and family in China. The objective was to examine existing work-family and career progression conflicts, the perceived usefulness of online MBA in balancing work-family and career aspirations, and the perceived ease of use of e-learning. Using Davis's ("MIS Q" 13(3):319-340 1989) technology acceptance model, the research drew on in-depth interviews with ten female part-time MBA students from a university in Wuhan. The data were analysed through coding and transcribing. The findings showed that conflicts arose where demanding work schedules competed with family obligations, studies, and caring for children and the elderly. Online MBA programmes were viewed as a viable tool for balancing work and family and studying, given its flexible time management capabilities. However, consideration must be given to address students' motivation issues, lack of networking, lack of face-to-face interaction, and quality. The research findings emphasise the pragmatic need to re-align higher education policy and practice to position higher education e-learning as a trustable education delivery channel in China. By shedding light on the prevailing work-family conflict experienced by women seeking career advancement, this study suggests developing better gender-supporting policies and innovative e-learning practices to champion online MBA programme for this target niche.

Introduction: The current transnational and internal migration involve more and more circular and temporary residences in the host communities. However, few studies have examined the settlement intention of circular and temporary migrant parents with children under 18 years old, which has made inclusive planning for thesemigrants' needs difficult. This paper aimed to examine whether rural migrant parents intended to settle in cities, with specific discussion about the impacts of childcare strategies, split households, and migration duration and distance. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study design. The data was sourced from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey. Results: Through analysis of a sample of 4,247 rural migrant parents in the Pearl River Delta, this study found that 56% of rural migrant parents intended to become urban settlers. Higher levels of education and income and longer migration durations yielded the parents' increased intention to become urban settlers. The birthplaces and primary caregivers of migrants' children were also significant factors. Moreover, split households, especially households in which the youngest child did not live with the parents in cities, decreased parents' intention to settle permanently. Instead of geographic distance, administrative provincial boundaries were found to be a critical factor in inter-provincialmigrant parents' decreased intention to settle in cities. Discussion: This study provides insights into understanding urbanization in China and contributes to future policy studies regarding internalmigration, social integration and population growth, especially in a low fertility and rapid aging contest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education and care of children during their first years has long been a topic of debate for policy-makers and researchers. In recent years, neurological and longitudinal research has highlighted the impact the education and care environment can have on the long-term cognitive, social and emotional development of young children. China's policy-makers have acknowledged the implications this research has for China's capacity to develop an innovative economy and harmonious society. This acknowledgement is now beginning to be reflected in policies and practices designed to shape the state's investment in early years human development. In this paper, we discuss the importance of care and education in the early years and the need for parents to be able to make informed childcare choices. Information from the research literature is supported by a survey conducted across a number of cities in China. (Contains 5 tables.)

The UNESCO-UNICEF joint regional policy review project was launched in September 2006 with the aim to support the countries of Asia-Pacific region in meeting the first goal of Education For All (EFA) on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) by identifying, documenting and sharing good practices as well as constraints and challenges in early childhood policy development and implementation. To this joint call for a policy review initiative, nine countries of the Asia-Pacific region responded, namely, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Viet Nam. The specific project goals were: (1) To support national governments in developing and implementing policies related to young children and their families; (2) To build national capacities in preparing policies that support the development, delivery and access to quality, early childhood services and provisions; (3) To develop knowledge about policy and identify a resource base to function as reference for policy makers, including justification and foundation for early childhood (in their countries); and (4) To share experiences and perspectives in policy development and implementation within and among countries on early childhood services/provisions. This paper describes the policy review process and recommendations on how similar policy reviews can be carried out in other countries/regions. (Contains 1 footnote.)

The Chinese culture of filial piety has historically emphasised children's responsibility for their ageing parents. Little is understood regarding the inverse: parents' responsibility and care for their adult children. This paper uses interviews with 50 families living in rural China's Anhui Province to understand intergenerational support in rural China. Findings indicate that parents in rural China take on large financial burdens in order to sustain patrilineal traditions by providing housing and child care for their adult sons. These expectations lead some rural elders to become migrant workers in order to support their adult sons while others provide live-in grandchild-care, moving into their children's urban homes or bringing grandchildren into their own homes. As the oldest rural generations begin to require ageing care of their own, migrant children are unable to provide the sustained care and support expected within the cultural tradition of xiao. This paper adds to the small body of literature that examines the downward transfer of support from parents to their adult children in rural China. The authors argue that there is an emerging cultural rupture in the practice of filial piety – while the older generation is fulfilling their obligations of upbringing and paying for adult children's housing and child care; these adult children are not necessarily available or committed to the return of care for their ageing parents. The authors reveal cultural and structural lags that leave millions of rural ageing adults vulnerable in the process of urbanisation in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to concerns over the assumed 'feminisation' of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and adds children's perspectives to debates on whether more men should work in ECEC. Pictorial conversations were conducted with 280 children aged 2–6 years old from the cities of Edinburgh, Hong Kong and Tianjin. Findings show that although children sometimes related practitioners to their gendered experiences in and outside ECEC, children's gender subjectivities are dynamic and are linked to their short‐term and long‐term, fluid and stable, and interactive relationships with practitioners. This paper argues that practitioners need to openly discuss gender with children in ECEC practices and pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the role of grandparental childcare in explaining China's extraordinarily high female labor market participation rate and low wage penalty. Using a novel and high-quality dataset combined with a creative new identification strategy, we find that grandparental childcare reduces young women's drop-out from the labor market, especially those with a higher education level living in an urban area, and it also improves mothers' labor income. We further show that grandparents' marriage status and home location do not affect the feasibility of grandparental childcare. Our research reveals that grandparental childcare, as a remedy for insufficient supply of public childcare services, supports mothers in the labor market, sustaining high mobility in the labor market in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the optimal design of childcare subsidies and how subsidies are implemented. We combine the optimal subsidy model with the situation in China and construct the optimal childcare subsidy model using families as units. We discuss the selection patterns of direct and indirect subsidies and prove the applicable ranges and selection thresholds for different subsidy types. Based on the CFPS database in China, we simulate the amount of childcare subsidies for families with different levels of market productivity and calculate the optimal amount of subsidies for them. The results show that direct subsidies should be provided to families whose wages are lower than the market price of childcare. Indirect subsidies should be provided to families whose wages are above the market price for childcare. Finally, the optimal child-rearing subsidy curve is derived, and the easily identifiable macro optimal subsidy curve is designed for implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education programs have been found to effectively promote children's social and cognitive development. However, the health impact of these programs is less understood. Using a quasi-experiment of the first universal child care reform in China from 2010, this paper aims to identify whether the preschool reform produces any short-term effects on health-related outcomes of preschoolers (3-6 years old). Specifically, this reform expands access to affordable preschools that provide full-day center-based education, with school meals and essential health services on campus. I exploit the variation in the number of newly established preschools across provinces and implement difference-in-differences and triple-difference strategies. Results confirm the effectiveness of this reform by showing a strong and positive impact on preschool attendance. This paper then documents the benefits to alleviating underweight among preschoolers. Estimates show a larger effect in rural areas, suggesting that the reform narrows rural-urban disparities in education access and undernutrition prevention. I also explore the impact on caregivers' health consciousness and find improved health-seeking behavior when children get sick. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a comparative content analysis of political talk in three popular Chinese online forums (government-run, commercial-lifestyle, and commercial-topical), this paper investigates how the private and public spheres are connected thru everyday talk about childcare concerns. Compared to the government-run (party-state) forum, the nonpolitical (lifestyle and topical) forums created open and inclusive 'third spaces' for citizens to engage in child welfare politics. In such spaces, the reason, rule-based deliberation was not the dominant communicative practice. Rather, political (narrative) acts of complaining and sharing personal concerns – grounded in citizens' life experiences – were the norm, capturing and recognizing public problems in the private sphere. We argue that to understand the nature of political talk in Chinese third spaces, communicative acts that have not been considered central to deliberative reasoning, such as complaining and sharing personal concerns should be given more normative importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether childcare choice affects the early childhood development of children aged 7–59 months. Using the data from Chinese Family Panel Studies, we look at household choices between parental and grandparental cares and the timing of four key early life achievements – walking, talking, counting and toilet training. We conceptualize early childhood development within a household production model, which enables us to identify the impacts of childcare. Our results suggest that compared with parental care, grandparental care delays the achievement of all four outcome measures. Grandparental care is particularly disadvantageous for children who are 'left‐behind' by migrant parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grandparents, especially grandmothers, are highly involved in childcare globally. There is a rising interest in studying the relationship between providing care and grandmothers' economic well-being in social science and health literature. However, little is known about how grandmothers' behavior responds to a government's family policy. This paper examines the effects of a large government-led formal childcare expansion on the well-being of working-age grandparents living with their adult children in China. We exploit the variation in program intensity across provinces and years and find that a higher coverage rate of center-based childcare increases the employment of grandmothers. By contrast, grandfathers' employment is not responsive. Further investigation reveals that the effect is stronger among the women who were richer, more educated, lived in urban areas, and paternal grandmothers. We find that the childcare expansion decreases grandmothers' chance of having chronic disease and depression., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose – The economic reforms which turned the centrally planned economy to a market economy have profoundly changed the tripartite relationship between the state, work unit, and citizen in urban China and brought significant changes to the institutional care provision for young children. The aim of this paper is to investigate the changes to the institutional care since 1980, with particular emphasis on the most recent years from mid-1990s, and explore how the institutional care has changed over the recent decades without a clear institutional basis. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis draws on second-hand materials from published literature, a range of longitudinal national and local statistics and policy documents, and also on first-hand information which was collected in Beijing from in-depth interviews with key informants and case studies of different kinds of kindergartens. Findings – The paper finds that the previous work-unit based public care system has changed to a much more complicated care mix in which the roles of the state, employer, community, market and the informal sector of the family in terms of provision and funding have all changed significantly. Social implications – The findings of this paper may help to inform appropriate policy responses in Chinese child care provision. The study suggests that formal care provision should be expanded towards universal access regardless of people's income and employment status in China. Originality/value – The paper questions and complicates the "state withdrawal" representation of social welfare change and argues that it is not "the state" but "the work unit and community organization" retreat from public care provision. It also argues that the change in the role of the state has been multifaceted, and not a simple one-directional movement of marketization in which the state retreated from welfare provision in entirety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rural infant growth failure has been highlighted as a priority for action in China's national nutrition and child development policies. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of community-based intervention project on child feeding, child health care and child growth., Methods: From 2001 to 2005, UNICEF and China's Ministry of Health worked together to develop holistic strategies for child health care. All the interventions were implemented through the three-tier (county-township-village) rural health care network.In this study, 34 counties were included in both surveys in 2001 and 2005. Among these 34 counties, nine were subjected to the intervention and 25 counties were used as controls. In nine intervention counties, leaflets containing information of supplemental feeding of infants and young children were printed and distributed to women during hospital delivery or visit to newborn by village doctors. Two cross-sectional surveys were both conducted from July to early September in 2001 and 2005. We calculated Z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ), with the new WHO growth standard. HAZ < - 2 was defined as stunting, WAZ < - 2 was defined as underweight, and WHZ < - 2 was defined as wasting., Results: Following the four-year study period, the parents in the intervention group showed significantly better infant and young child feeding practices and behaviors of child care than did their control group counterparts. In addition, all three anthropometric indicators in 2005 in the intervention group were better than in the control, with stunting 4.9% lower (p < 0.001), underweight 2.2% lower (p < 0.001), and wasting 1.0% lower (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: We concluded that the health care education intervention embed in government had the potential to be successfully promoted in rural western China.

At the global level, prominent narratives about improving the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) promote the recruitment of men into the profession. However, comparing across different policy and practice settings demonstrates contrasting expressions and experiences of how men contribute to ECEC. This article presents findings from a study in Edinburgh, Scotland and Tianjin, China. The study explored how male and female practitioners and children talk about gender and how gendered relationships and roles are 'performed' in practice settings. In the two contexts, national/regional policy aims to raise the number of men working in ECEC, but in both cases and in different ways the inclusion of men in ECEC reinforces cultural gender norms as much as interrupting them. This research points to the need for comparative research to include observation data and practitioners' and children's views to enhance understanding of how global discourses of ECEC are enacted in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The education and care of children during their first years has long been a topic of debate for policy-makers and researchers. In recent years, neurological and longitudinal research has highlighted the impact the education and care environment can have on the long-term cognitive, social and emotional development of young children. China's policy-makers have acknowledged the implications this research has for China's capacity to develop an innovative economy and harmonious society. This acknowledgement is now beginning to be reflected in policies and practices designed to shape the state's investment in early years human development. In this paper, we discuss the importance of care and education in the early years and the need for parents to be able to make informed childcare choices. Information from the research literature is supported by a survey conducted across a number of cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various topics in the issue including rehabilitation policy in China, child care and needs of young people in Hong Kong and life of elderly widows living with and without children.

The availability of nonparental childcare may be an important factor that influences reproductive decisions. While there is still a shortage of formal childcare service in China, grandparents are one primary source of childcare for their grandchildren. However, impact evaluations regarding the contribution of grandparenting on fertility level in China are still limited; the established evaluation results are not conclusive, especially for the birth of the second child. In this paper, we provide a theoretical justification and an empirical study of the influence of grandparental childcare on the second birth. By introducing a dynamic general equilibrium (DGE) model, this study proves that intergenerational childcare plays a critical role in both boosting the fertility level and maintaining its positive tendency. Drawing on the nationally representative data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2016, we estimate the treatment effects of grandparental childcare for the first child on the second birth with the Propensity Score Matching method. After controlling the self-selection bias, the results show that intergenerational childcare can positively affect the second birth. Sensitivity analysis results show the relative robustness of our empirical estimates to potential hidden bias attributed to unobserved variables. We also draw policy implications from the analysis, calling for government policies not only to promote sustainable and healthy development of the childcare industry but also to support family life, especially grandparental childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines decisions among low-income mothers in Hong Kong on the use of self-care, or the arrangement of leaving children unattended at home. An analysis of individual interviews with 23 mothers, based on a family ecology perspective, highlighted the contexts in which mothers make decisions based on economic, social and technical grounds. Findings showed that self-care was used with family orientated demands, in spite of the worries and fears associated with the self-care arrangement. Self-care was generally favoured when it was felt to be an efficient way of carrying out family and domestic tasks. An argument was also made that self-care encouraged appropriate independence in children. Nevertheless, mothers recognised the risks involved in self-care and planned to minimise the potential dangers of young children being left unattended. The views of the children themselves, as well as their fathers, often influenced the care arrangements made by mothers. Social policies in relation to unattended children are also examined. This analysis reveals ideological assumptions about the nature of good parenting that places great pressure on mothers to fulfil their responsibilities even though they often lack adequate economic, social and technical support. Rather than deploy deterrent legal measures, it is suggested that social measures, including the provision of `family life education', occasional child care services and enhancement of community support, be developed to help parents carry out their child-rearing roles effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Guided by the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) model, this study investigates the career choices of student teachers majoring in childcare and analyses the factors influencing their career choices to address the teacher recruitment issue in the childcare industry in China. Methods: A total of 444 participants from vocational colleges were selected, and questionnaires were used to ask about their career choice intention and the influencing factors. Results and discussion: The FIT-Choice model is theoretically acceptable, although the subscales for personal utility value should be reformulated. Students majoring in childcare have a positive but weak intention to become childcare educators. Their career choice intentions are jointly influenced by their social influences, task perceptions, values and fallback career, with task perceptions and values playing mediating roles between social influences and career choice intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides new evidence on on the causal effect of fertility on maternal labor supply in rural China, using the fact that in some parts of rural China couples are allowed to have a second child if their firstborn is female. Estimates show that a second child reduces maternal labor force participation by 4.6 percentage points, labor supply intensity (hours worked conditional on employment) by 1.4 h per week and monthly income by 54.5 Chinese Yuan (18.7 percent). Further, the labor supply of mothers whose husbands are rural-to-urban migrants is the most sensitive to having an additional child, likely because they have more difficulty balancing farming and childcare. Conversely, labor supply is not reduced by fertility for mothers living in three-generation families, most likely because grandparents can provide both time and money to help with childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a provincial-level analysis of the way in which various socio-economic and socio-demographic determinants influence the decision to discriminate against daughters in China. While most existing studies use the infant or child sex ratio as the only variable to be explained, this study analyses separately the two main discriminatory practices: sex-selective abortion (with sex ratio at birth as a proxy) and neglect of girls' health care (with excess infant mortality among females as a proxy). The analysis helps to illuminate the circumstances that encourage sex-selective behaviours, which appear to be dictated mainly by extreme poverty, family support to the elderly, and father's education, together with the social pressure on couples to adhere to traditional values and roles and the constraints on family size. While sex-selective abortion appears to result from long-term strategies to optimize family composition, lethal neglect is the immediate result of economic constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of parental, household and community character-istics on the health of children in China. We find that birth order, death of elder siblings, use of prenatal care and alcohol consumption by the mother when pregnant have statistically significant effects on the health of children. Although parental education does not have a significant direct effect on child health, it does affect mothers’ behavior during pregnancy and inflfluences the use of health inputs, indirectly impacting the health of children. The research findings have important implications for both family planning programs and broader social policies in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: China's traditional culture makes rural women and men take on different family responsibilities. Methods: Use "China Family Panel Studies" (CFPS) data and build Logit and propensity score matching models to empirically study the impact of children care and elderly care on rural married women going out to work. And explore the welfare effects of basic education public services in helping rural women take care of their families. Results: The results show that caring for children has a significant hindering effect on rural married women's job hunting. Especially for those in low-income families, the employment inhibition is most significant among women aged 20-30 with multiple children. Contrary to previous cognition, supporting the elderly has a certain weak stimulating effect. The kindergarten public services in rural areas can help women take care of their children and relieve their work pressure. The primary school public services have not played a role in alleviating them. Discussion: This shows that there are still a large number of female laborers in rural China who are unable to go out to work due to family care. The improvement of rural basic education public services can promote more rural women going out to work. This finding will provide a policy reference for the introduction of a formal care system and the establishment of basic education public services in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has low birth rates at higher parities and intensive grandparental childcare. Despite this, there has been little empirical research into the role of intergenerational support in the transition to second birth. This study examines whether grandparental childcare increases the likelihood and speed of a transition to second birth in the context of relaxations in Chinese family planning policy and whether this differs for working and non-working mothers. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2010–2016), the association between grandparental childcare, mother's working status and second childbirth are explored using split-population survival models to distinguish between the impact on the timing of fertility and ultimate parity progression. The odds of having a second child are four times higher for those who use grandparental childcare than those that don't. Amongst those who have a second child, grandparental childcare leads to 30% lower odds of transition to second birth than those without grandparental care, each month. Grandparental childcare is also associated with maternal employment, which is itself associated with a sharp decrease in the transition to second birth. At the micro-level, grandparental childcare helps mothers continue working, which in turn defers a second birth. The results emphasise the importance of work-life balance strategies, such as grandparental care, in enabling women of childbearing age to realize their fertility intentions in combination with work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Empty nesters are older people who live alone or an older couple without children to care for them. In China, empty nesters make up a significant community and are more likely to experience emotional issues, particularly depression. This study investigated the prevalence of depression and the factors influencing depression among Chinese home-bound empty nesters using meta-analysis. Methods: Based on previous studies, we used search terms relating to empty nesters and depression in English and Chinese. Databases, including China Journal Full Text Database (CNKI), Wanfang, Wipu, China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and UptoDate, were searched in April 2022, for relevant articles. Details including names of authors, year of publication, region of investigation, study type, sample size, depression detection scale, depression detection rate, and influencing factors were captured. The heterogeneity of the studies was assessed based on the I2 index, and data analysis was performed using Stata 16.0 software. Results: A total of ten research articles involving 5337 Chinese empty nesters were evaluated in the present meta-analysis. The overall prevalence of depression among empty nesters in China was 43%. The prevalence of depression among urban empty nesters was 38% (95% CI: 0.24,0.52), and 36% (95% CI: 0.18,0.55) among rural empty nesters. Many factors, including female, income, marital status, chronic illness, relationship with children, and social support were linked to depression among urban empty nesters. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression among empty nesters was 43%. Therefore, based on the factors influencing depression, government departments can intervene early to improve the mental health of empty nesters. Limitations: The meta-analysis only included cross-sectional studies. Therefore, there is a need for more future original studies investigating depression among empty nesters in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of grandparenting on the grandparents' health has been relatively under-studied. This study examined country differences in the effects of grandchild care provision on the grandparents' depression in Italy, Spain, China, Denmark and Sweden using the longitudinal Harmonised CHARLS and SHARE data collected between 2010–2015. Controlling for the grandparents' depression in 2011, grandmothers providing non-intensive grandparental care in Sweden in 2013 reported lower depression score in 2015 compared to those who did not provide any care in 2013. Chinese grandfathers, Italian and Swedish grandmothers who provided intensive grandchild care reported lower depression score compared to their counterparts who did not provide any grandchild care. This study indicates that the Structural Ambivalence Theory can only partially explain the findings, suggesting further theoretical development in this area. Future research can focus on identifying the causal pathways between grandparenting and wellbeing, and the implications of such pathways for older persons' wellbeing worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing public attention to access to preschool education in rural China, there is limited evidence about its potential long-term impacts on child development. Using a nationally representative dataset from China Family Panel Studies, this paper is the first rigorously estimating the long-term effects of preschool attendance on multiple domains of child development in rural China for a sample of 11–15 year olds. Results based on ordinary least squares analysis, county fixed effects, and propensity score matching point to a consistent positive association between preschool attendance and individual social skills, although no association was found between attendance and cognitive skills. Directions for future research and policy recommendations related to early education development in China are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory essay highlights the changing foci of labor scholarship during five distinct periods in the evolution of Chinese industrial relations. In so doing, the author argues that labor scholarship has oscillated between pessimistic and optimistic views regarding whether a labor movement is forming in China. The three articles brought together in this special section focus on the key themes of labor activism, collective bargaining, and the role of labor NGOs during a single period, 2006 to 2015. Together, the articles evidence optimism about the future of labor voice in China. This essay, however, suggests that the post-2015 period has been marked by changes in state policy that are having a chilling effect on labor voice and labor scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grandparenting is known to impact psychological health in older people. However, the extent to which the effect is altered by migration‐related and sociodemographic determinants is less clear. Therefore, we conducted this cross‐sectional study to investigate whether the association between grandparenting and psychological distress differs between rural–urban migrants and local older adults from May to September 2019. A total of 373 rural–urban migrants and 602 local older adults involved in grandparenting in Hangzhou completed measurements assessing sociodemographic characteristics, childcare burden and psychological distress. In total, 22.2% of the grandparents reported psychological distress. Rural–urban migrant grandparents had a lower socioeconomic status (SES), a higher childcare burden (23.6 ± 9.2 vs. 20.7 ± 9.5, p < 0.001) and higher levels of psychological distress (29.8% vs. 17.4%, p < 0.001) than local grandparents. Childcare burden and pressure from adult children were the most significant predictors for psychological distress in both groups (ps < 0.05). Psychological distress was also significantly associated with self‐rated health status (β = −0.276, p = 0.033) and willingness to participate in grandparenting (β = −0.659, p = 0.024) in migrant grandparents but associated with female gender (β = 0.346, p = 0.022), caring for children at night (β = 0.424, p = 0.011), conflict with adult children (β = 0.432, p < 0.001) and annual income (β = −0.237, p < 0.001) in local grandparents. Migrant status showed a statistically significant moderating effect between childcare burden and psychological distress. These results may be of assistance in comprehensively understanding the social determinants of mental health of grandparents involved in grandparenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grandparental care has become an involuntary choice in life for many families, mainly due to parents' unavailability to provide care and the lack of public or affordable private childcare. This phenomenon has raised concerns regarding the effects of grandparental care along the dimensions of child development. This study aims to test the association between grandparental care and child development in three dimensions: subjective wellbeing, behavioural traits and study performance. It used data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies survey. First, the study outlines the data and the applied method with defined variables, on the basis of which an overview on the current stage of grandparental care is presented. It then examines the association of the impact of grandparental care in different dimensions using the general linear model, along with the other influencing factors. Finally, a cross‐age group comparison is employed. The results of the study illustrate the difficulty of examining an overall picture of grandparental childcare, with its negative or positive associations. However, when evaluated using the features of different age groups of children's development, significant associations between grandparental care and child development are mainly found in the 6–11 age group, but the significant associations weaken or disappear in the 12–16 age group. Attachment theory and peer group theory are used to explain the difference between the two age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of grandparenthood and grandparental childcare on loneliness among Chinese older adults. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of 9240 individuals from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we applied logistic regression to examine the relationship between various grandparental statuses and loneliness with a focus on gender. The grandparental role is a protective factor for loneliness. Providing care to grandchildren was associated with a lower likelihood of feeling lonely for both genders. Among grandmothers, the benefit of providing childcare is less when it is occasional. Among grandfathers, the benefit is less when it is regular and intensive. Regarding transitions in grandparental status, gender differences were only observed among those who recently entered the caregiving role. Given the increasing reliance on grandparents for childcare in China, this engagement in active aging is beneficial for older adults in reducing loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the longitudinal association of depressive symptoms with grandchild care intensity and whether the association varies by household structure, residential area, and gender for Chinese grandparents. Using data from three waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011–2015), we applied multilevel mixed effects models to examine changes in depressive symptoms and the associations with caregiving intensity and to test the moderation effects of residence, living arrangement, and gender. After controlling for sociodemographic and health covariates, we found that providing a medium level of grandchild care was associated with fewer baseline depressive symptoms compared with non-caregivers. Providing low-level care among those living with spouse/partner and among those living with child(ren)/others was associated with fewer depressive symptoms relative to non-caregivers with similar living arrangements. Findings indicate that a medium level of involvement in childcare was associated with better mental wellness and low levels of caregiving may benefit nonresidential caregivers. More prospective longitudinal studies are needed to improve the operationalization of grandparent caregiving, validate the associated health outcomes, and apply a contextual approach to examine socioeconomic, cultural, and policy-related contexts of caregiving in the changing world of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of access to and affordability of paid and unpaid childcare services on the time allocation of mothers with children ages 0–6. The study employs a fixed-effect seemingly unrelated regression model on longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for 2004–11, when women's employment in China was declining rapidly. The study finds that holding constant other determinants, doubling daily wages of nannies and tuition fees of childcare centers tends to reduce a mother's market work time by 5.2 and 1.3 h per week and increases her time spent on housework by 1.7 and 0.5 h per week, respectively. Mothers who live with an older, woman relative spend 5.5 h fewer per week on childcare. Access to local childcare centers reduces mothers' time spent on childcare by 13.3 h per week, and these mothers' wage rates have no effect on their time allocation. HIGHLIGHTS In China, rising parenting costs contribute to declines in women's labor participation rate and the fertility rate. Increasing prices of childcare services reduce mother's time on paid work and increase time on housework. Access to childcare has no impact on mothers' time on activities beyond childcare. The government should subsidize early childhood education as it subsidizes elementary education. Childcare leave and flexible work arrangements may alleviate mothers' time burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Findings: Driven by the universal two-child policy, the childcare services in China have stepped into a new era after 3-decade of neglect. This national study investigated the accessibility, quality, and administration of childcare services for children under age 3, by establishing a triangulation of survey, interview, and classroom observation. Altogether 28,582 parents and 2,340 teachers were surveyed, 114 classrooms were observed, and 107 service managers were interviewed. The results indicated both signs of progress and problems under the universal two-child policy. The major findings include: (1) although in high demand, childcare services are still scarce; (2) the structure quality and process quality are not high; and (3) a scientific administration should be established to regulate the services, which also need to be standardized. Practice or Policy: The findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Chinese childcare services and provide implications for policymaking and practical improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how transnational mothering is practiced through telecommunication among Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong. It investigates the connection between information and communication technologies (ICTs) usage, especially mobile phone usage, and the practices of transnational mothering from two aspects: (1) how Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong provide emotional support and care to their children through simultaneous telecommunication and (2) how these transnational mothers supervise and discipline their children via ICTs. By analyzing various maternal practices through telecommunication, we argue that the ICTs usage by transnational mothers strengthens their emotional bonds with their children and empowers them to discipline their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the patterns and characteristics of non-parental child care arrangements for Chinese very young children before they enter preschool and the extent to which families' utilization of non-parental child care influenced parenting stress. A total of 3,842 Chinese parents of infants and toddlers were selected from 10 provinces to participate in this study. The results indicated that (1) Chinese families relied heavily on grandparents to care for their children; (2) a set of family demographics predicted the utilization of non-parental child care arrangements, including parents' educational level, household income, labor force participation, and maternal age; (3) there existed a clear parental preference for publicly funded, affordable, and high-quality child care services; and (4) families' use of non-parental child care was generally not linked to parenting stress. These findings shed light on the development of the infant-toddler non-parental child care system in the Chinese sociocultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]