212 GENDER SOCIETY/April 2003 the long-term consequences for elder care that are likely to stem from the imple- mentation of the one-child family policy.Partially aimed at improving economic growth by curtailing population growth,the one-child-per-family birth control pol- icy was implemented in 1979,roughly at the same time that the economic reforms began.By the end of the 1990s,the one-child rates (or the percentage of all births that are first-parity birth)ranged from 85 to 96 percent (Falbo and Poston 1996; Tsui and Rich 2002).Families are consequently becoming smaller in size and nuclear in structure,especially in urban China. Although the one-child policy may not directly influence the behavior of current caregivers,this shift in family structure will create unprecedented societal chal- lenges as Chinese baby boomers age.While most current caregivers have multiple siblings to share parent care responsibilities,members of the Chinese baby boom generation(born roughly 1950 to 1970),who began families after the implementa- tion of the one-child policy,generally have produced only one child.Consequently, children of baby boomers will necessarily confront the tasks of caring for elderly parents without the benefit of siblings to share the responsibilities.Plausible impli- cations of these changes for elder care in the future can be gleaned from our study, which examines the influence of family size on current care patterns in the context of cultural values and family resources. Economic reforms.In addition to experiencing structural transitions at the famil- ial level,current caregivers and their adult children,who are expected to become the caregivers of the future,are contending with the repercussions of economic changes at the societal level.These families are struggling to survive the transition from a socialist to a free-market economy as well as the globalization of the Chi- nese economy,which has emerged since the open-door policy was initiated in the late 1970s.The decentralization and privatization of enterprises,which previously had been 95 percent state owned,have led to a contraction in available jobs.Free market competition,particularly between companies with joint venture or foreign investment and those locally operated and formerly government owned,have forced many small and interior companies to close down(Grogan 1995;Henderson et al.1995:O'Leary 1998).Consequently,there is a sharp decline in job security and a loss of health care benefits.This decline is much more intense in the interior of China where local businesses that were formerly state owned have limited access to joint-venture capital and foreign investment and are unable to compete with the larger companies in coastal regions.Hence,our study of a sample of adult children residing in interior cities provides an excellent opportunity to examine the simulta- neous influences ofeconomic reform in a global economy and traditional value sys- tems on parent care. The repercussions of economic reform have disproportionately affected both women and the elderly.Women have been negatively affected by these reforms for two reasons.First,although a large percentage of urban women have been in the labor force since 1950,they have tended to work in temporary jobs or jobs that offered no benefits (Johnson 1983:Stacey 1983;Wolf 1985).Second,since the Downloaded from gas.sagepub.com at UCSF LIBRARY CKM on January 27.2015the long-term consequences for elder care that are likely to stem from the imple￾mentation of the one-child family policy. Partially aimed at improving economic growth by curtailing population growth, the one-child-per-family birth control pol￾icy was implemented in 1979, roughly at the same time that the economic reforms began. By the end of the 1990s, the one-child rates (or the percentage of all births that are first-parity birth) ranged from 85 to 96 percent (Falbo and Poston 1996; Tsui and Rich 2002). Families are consequently becoming smaller in size and nuclear in structure, especially in urban China. Although the one-child policy may not directly influence the behavior of current caregivers, this shift in family structure will create unprecedented societal chal￾lenges as Chinese baby boomers age. While most current caregivers have multiple siblings to share parent care responsibilities, members of the Chinese baby boom generation (born roughly 1950 to 1970), who began families after the implementa￾tion of the one-child policy, generally have produced only one child. Consequently, children of baby boomers will necessarily confront the tasks of caring for elderly parents without the benefit of siblings to share the responsibilities. Plausible impli￾cations of these changes for elder care in the future can be gleaned from our study, which examines the influence of family size on current care patterns in the context of cultural values and family resources. Economic reforms. In addition to experiencing structural transitions at the famil￾ial level, current caregivers and their adult children, who are expected to become the caregivers of the future, are contending with the repercussions of economic changes at the societal level. These families are struggling to survive the transition from a socialist to a free-market economy as well as the globalization of the Chi￾nese economy, which has emerged since the open-door policy was initiated in the late 1970s. The decentralization and privatization of enterprises, which previously had been 95 percent state owned, have led to a contraction in available jobs. Free market competition, particularly between companies with joint venture or foreign investment and those locally operated and formerly government owned, have forced many small and interior companies to close down (Grogan 1995; Henderson et al. 1995; O’Leary 1998). Consequently, there is a sharp decline in job security and a loss of health care benefits. This decline is much more intense in the interior of China where local businesses that were formerly state owned have limited access to joint-venture capital and foreign investment and are unable to compete with the larger companies in coastal regions. Hence, our study of a sample of adult children residing in interior cities provides an excellent opportunity to examine the simulta￾neous influences of economic reform in a global economy and traditional value sys￾tems on parent care. The repercussions of economic reform have disproportionately affected both women and the elderly. Women have been negatively affected by these reforms for two reasons. First, although a large percentage of urban women have been in the labor force since 1950, they have tended to work in temporary jobs or jobs that offered no benefits (Johnson 1983; Stacey 1983; Wolf 1985). Second, since the 212 GENDER & SOCIETY / April 2003 Downloaded from gas.sagepub.com at UCSF LIBRARY & CKM on January 27, 2015