Mechanism on sex selection and childbearing behavior in Chinese families: A 2010 census based study

China’s sex ratio at birth has decreased slowly since 2009. Investigation of household-level influences on the desired number and gender of the family’s children can help produce more effective governance policies. A framework for analysis of families’ sex selection and fertility behavior is proposed. Data from the 1‰ sample of the sixth census of China completed in 2011 are used to investigate factors influencing the reproductive behavior of Chinese families with ordinary logistic regression and multiple hierarchical logistic regression. It is found that the probability of having a son is correlated with the mother’s personal characteristics, family structural variables, and marriage pattern. The parity of a son’s birth is positively correlated with the number of daughters previously born and negatively correlated with the number of previously born sons. Increasing China's urbanization and industrialization is likely to have more influence on families’ reproductive decision-making than simply increasing the GDP per capita.