‘Do Old-Age Security Concerns Still Motivate Fertility in China?’

Thursday, 4 June 2026, 5pm to 6.30pm

Demographic changes in China are characterised by the dual challenges of fertility decline and population ageing. Bringing together these two trends, this talk examines the old-age security motive for fertility in contemporary China. The long-standing norm of yang’er fang lao (养儿防老) has traditionally encouraged individuals to have children, particularly sons, to secure their old age. With China’s socialist reform and post-socialist transitions, however, do people’s concerns about old-age security still motivate them to have children and fuel a preference for sons today? How does this motive relate to China’s latest three-child policy and its efforts at establishing an old-age welfare system? Drawing on large-scale analysis of nationally representative data spanning 2010–2023, Dr Yang Hu demonstrates how the future of fertility in China hangs in a delicate balance between the resilience of traditional family values, the individualisation of old-age care, and the country’s welfare reform.

Yang Hu is Associate Professor in Sociology at UCL Social Research Institute, University College London, where he also directs the MSc/MA programmes in Sociology. Yang is a member of the 2029 Research Excellence Framework (REF) Sub-Panel for Sociology. He is Co-director of the Work and Family Researchers Network (WFRN) Early Career Fellowship Programme. Yang’s research examines family and work changes and inequalities in a global context. His recent work has been published in journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Gender & Society, European Sociological Review, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Human Relations.

Speaker(s): Dr Yang Hu (University College London)

Series: China Studies Seminar Series

Venue: Dickson Poon Building, Oxford China Centre - Kin-ku Cheng Lecture Theatre (lower ground floor) - Kin-ku Cheng Lecture Theatre (lower ground floor) Dickson Poon Building Canterbury Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX2 6LU United Kingdom

Department: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Department)

Host: Dr Zhe Wang