Effects of Policy Shifts on Marital Relations

This book explores women’s status in the family in contemporary rural Chinese society. Focusing on state policies, traditional culture and their impacts on women and family relations, the book examines: division of labor, household work, mate selection and marriage formation, decision-making power, and marital relations in rural families over a course of 50 years. Using an ethnographic approach, the field research is conducted in a central China village to learn about: 1) the evolution of family life; 2) the impacts of state policies and traditional culture on family relations; and, 3) the factors that explain the changes in rural families. Villagers’ perspectives and practices on particular events at different points in time present a comprehensive picture of contemporary rural life in a village context. The lived stories and life experience reveal the changes in women’s status in the family and impacts of state policies and traditional culture on family relations over time.