FSS-DSOC Seminar: “Cohort Replacement and Waves of Fertility Decline in China”, by Prof. Yong CAI

Taking a cohort perspective, I examine China’s fertility decline through three distinct waves, each with unique features shaped by evolving economic conditions, shifting cultural attitudes, and the implementation of successive birth planning policies. Analyzing these shifts not only illuminates China’s fertility history – revealing the complex interplay between state intervention and individual choices – but also provide valuable insights into China’s fertility future: whether and when the decline trend might be reversed.

Prof. Yong CAI is an Associate Professor of Sociology and the Director of Graduate Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A demographer specializing in social demography, his research focuses on fertility, mortality, family dynamics, and population change in China. He is a leading expert on China’s population policy, having published extensively on the unintended consequences of the one-child policy and the country’s emerging low fertility. Prof. CAI also has a strong interest in demographic methods and the social well-being of children.