Family Relations and Remarriage Postdivorce and Postwidowhood in China

Abstract

Analyzing event history data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies and 13 qualitative interviews, we examine the complex and gendered relationship between family relations and remarriage in China. Distinct roles are played by the presence of preschool, school-age, and adult children in configuring the remarriage of women and men after divorce and after widowhood. The remarriage of widows but not divorcées is positively associated with the presence of parents and siblings. Remarriage is more likely in the presence of large extended families. Whereas single and remarried divorcé(e)s equally provide care to their children, such care provision is less likely among remarried than single widow(er)s. Compared with their single counterparts, remarried divorcé(e)s and particularly widow(er)s are less likely to receive care from their children. We underline the importance of considering the “linked lives” of family members and comparing distinct life course circumstances in the study of remarriage. We demonstrate that remarriage is far from an “individualized” institution and that the state’s privatization of marriage seems to reinforce the “familialization” of remarriage practices in China.