ASSESSING THE CORRELATES OF DESIRED FAMILY-SIZE IN SHAANXI, CHINA

This exploratory analysis of factors associated with Chinese women's f ertility desires uses data on married women between the ages of 18 and 35 who live in Shaanxi Province, China. Analyses using an economic fr amework found that both rural and urban couples who intended to sign, or who had already signed, the one-child certificate reported wanting significantly fewer children. However, in rural areas (where 80 per ce nt of the provincial population lives), education level, living arrang ements, participation in an arranged marriage, attitudes regarding the ideal age for marriage, and knowledge of the reasons for the governme nt's fertility policies appear to play a relatively larger role in sha ping fertility preferences.