Household formation and dissolution is considered to be a critical subject to the social
policy in its own right and a lot of research reports have been written under this
heading. The literature evidence shows that in China, at least in urban area, the
youngsters intend to delay their marriage, young couples intend to delay the
child-bearing or even not willing to have a baby, divorce happened more frequently,
and the number of households with single-parent increase, the birth sex ratio becomes
unbalance, et. Such a tendency will surely be embodied in the household structure on
aggregated level that would inevitably affect many demographic and economic
phenomena such as the dependant ratio, pension system balance, and child/old care
demanding.
The main aim here is trying to project & test: under current diversification-process of
urban household which mainly due to the family planning policy and the emerging
trend of new-living-arrangement style, so called “Asian Family Pattern”, is still a
main stream pattern in the context of rapidly changing Shanghai? And what relevant
reform of social policy should be made to adapt to such kind of change in the future.
To some extent, this study answers a series questions, such as: Is family care still a
feasible policy tool for a rapidly aging city; how much social facilities is needed in the
future to handle with widowhood household; is it already crucial for government to
design special social security program for single-parent household; and is it necessary
for Chinese government to promote marriage just like U.S now does; according to the
different scenario, which equilibrium is more optimal from social policy point of view
and is it possible to do selection via policy adjustment?
Finally, this study reveals that Shanghai’s family household structure is undergoing a
gradual change, which have profound social and economic impacts and relevant social
policy reform is urgently required.