TITLE:
Investigation of Participants’ Fertility Intentions under the “Three-Child” Policy in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
AUTHORS:
Zengjin Ke, Yu Pan, Lei Xiao, Xinguo Yang
KEYWORDS:
Three-Child Policy, Fertility Intention, Third Child
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.11,
October
25,
2022
ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to describe the fertility intentions and
the possibility of having a third child of participants in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region since the “three-child” policy was adopted in China and to explore
factors associated with intentions to have a third child. This study was
conducted among 1525 participants from five universities using a questionnaire
from September to November 2021 in Guangxi, China. Data were collected on the
student’s sociodemographic characteristics and fertility intentions. A
descriptive analysis, chi-square test, difference test and ordered logistic
regression model were used for data analysis. The ideal number of children among the participants in Guangxi was 1.89 ±
0.52, and the average number of planned children was 1.49 ± 0.88.
Although the policy encouraged having a third child, fewer than a tenth (5.5%)
of participants clearly intended to. More than 15% (17.6%) of participants
clearly intended not to have child. Compared
with female participants, male participants had more planning number of
child (P value = 0.003) and were more
likely to have a third child (P value
= 0.000). The earlier participants get married the more likely to have a third
child (P value = 0.000). Compared
with urban participants, rural participants were more likely to have first and
second children (P value = 0.003), but there was no significant difference in the
possibility of having three children. Participants show lower fertility intentions and less likely to have
third child under the “Three-child” policy.
More fertility intentions’ researches and supplementary measures are urgently needed to improve fertility rates in China.