A report of research_conducted in Tianjin, People's
Republid Of_China (September 1981-January 1982) describes and
analyses chances ia iamily structure, marriage, post-marital
residence, and fertility in a neighborhood of factory workers over a
50-year period. Social and economic changes such as delayed marriage,
increased access to education, and the entrance of women into the
labor force were accompanied by a dezline in fertility. But
modernization theory and demographic transition do not_anticipaste the
fertility transformations which actually occurred._Changes_indicate
fertility was at least as_responsive to political shifts as
modernization._The paper suggests it may be more useful to begin with
the demographic pattern,_and use it to signal potentially important
economic, political, or social causes, than to begin with specific
social causes. Twelve figures and 18 tables are included and an
8-page reference list is appended