WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND SON PREFERENCE AMONG RURAL-URBAN MIGRANTS …
and increase with birth order. Thus the childbearing behaviour of
these migrants exhibits strong son preference.
Second, social network factors have significant impacts on
attitudes and behaviours related to son preference among rural-urban
migrants (Shye et al., 1995; Bongaarts and Watkins, 1996; Friedkin,
1997; Kohler et al., 2001). Weak ties in the childbearing discussion
network contribute to a decrease in the risk of having an attitude of
son preference after migration. This suggests that the weak ties defined
by occupation or so called “social stratification”, such as managers,
owners of private enterprise, professional or technical person and
government officers could influence these migrants’ attitudes towards
childbearing.
Third, migration factors have effects: the older the individual at
first migration, the higher the likelihood of having son preference
attitude. Thus, age cohort is an important factor in son preference (Hui
et al., 2001). The risk of having an attitude of son preference decreases
as the number of years lived in urban areas increases, suggesting that
evolution away from preference occurs during the process of migrants’
adaptation to cities (Riley, 1971; Hui et al., 2001; Harding and Jencks,
2003). The longer the migrants live in the urban areas, the higher the
likelihood that they have similar attitudes and behaviours towards son
preference to permanent urban residents (Yu et al., 1996). In addition,
the effect of years lived in urban areas on the son preference behaviour
appears after eight years, but on son preference attitude it appears after
one year. Thus the change in childbearing behaviour lags far behind the
change of reported attitude. The older the migrants at first migration,
the stronger the attitude of son preference and the lower risk of
having a boy at second birth. Thus older age at first migration would
lead to postponement of the second birth. With increasing age and
years of living in urban areas, the attitude of son preference tends to
become weaker, as does the behaviour of son preference. The factor
“times back home per year” does not have effects on either the attitude
or behaviour of son preference among migrants. These results suggest
that changes in attitudes and behaviours of son preference among
migrants are mainly driven by social interaction.
Finally, education and sex composition of children ever born
affect attitudes and behaviours of son preference among rural-urban
migrants. The higher the education level, the higher the risk of having
son preference, and the higher possibility of having a boy at the second
birth. This is consistent with findings of other studies (Wu et al., 2005).
Sex composition of children ever born has a significant effect on the
attitude and behaviour of son preference (Gao, 1993). Rural-urban
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