abstract: 'As China''s one-child policy is replaced by the two-child policy, young

  Chinese women and their spouses are increasingly concerned about who

  will take care of the `second child.'' Due to the absence of public

  childcare services and the rising cost of privatised care services in

  China, childcare provision mainly relies on families, such that working

  women''s choices of childbirth, childcare and employment are heavily

  constrained. To deal with structural barriers, young urban mothers

  mobilise grandmothers as joint caregivers. Based on interviews with

  Guangzhou middle-class families, this study examines the impact of

  childcare policy reform since 1978 on childbirth and childcare choices

  of women. It illustrates the longstanding contributions and struggles of

  women, particularly grandmothers, engaged in childcare. It also shows

  that intergenerational parenting involves a set of practices of

  intergenerational intimacy embedded in material conditions, practical

  acts of care, moral values and power dynamics. We argue that the

  liberation, to some extent, of young Chinese mothers from childcare is

  at the expense of considerable unpaid care work from grandmothers rather

  than being driven by increased public care services and improved gender

  equality in domestic labour. Given the significant stress and seriously

  constrained choices in later life that childcare imposes, grandmothers

  now become reluctant to help rear a second grandchild. This situation

  calls for changes in family policies to increase the supply of

  affordable and good-quality childcare services, enhance job security in

  the labour market, provide supportive services to grandmothers and, most

  importantly, prioritise the wellbeing of women and families over

  national goals.'
affiliation: 'Peng, MG (Corresponding Author), Guangzhou Univ, Dept Govt \& Publ Adm,
  Guangzhou 510006, Peoples R China.

  Zhong, Xiaohui, Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Govt, Dept Polit Sci, Guangzhou 510275, Peoples
  R China.

  Peng, Minggang, Guangzhou Univ, Dept Govt \& Publ Adm, Guangzhou 510006, Peoples
  R China.'
author: Zhong, Xiaohui and Peng, Minggang
author-email: 'zhongxh25@mail.sysu.edu.cn

  pengminggang@gzhu.edu.cn'
author_list:
- family: Zhong
  given: Xiaohui
- family: Peng
  given: Minggang
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.17645/si.v8i2.2674
eissn: 2183-2803
files: []
journal: SOCIAL INCLUSION
keywords: 'childcare; intergenerational parenting; older women; two-child policy;

  urban China'
keywords-plus: URBAN CHINA; GRANDCHILDREN; GRANDPARENTS; PARENTS; CHOICES; ROLES
language: English
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '49'
pages: 36-46
papis_id: 3c5cf23c325f78e93ea1ce1874152179
ref: Zhong2020grandmothersfarewell
times-cited: '17'
title: 'The Grandmothers'' Farewell to Childcare Provision under China''s Two-Child
  Policy: Evidence from Guangzhou Middle-Class Families'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000530127400004
usage-count-last-180-days: '7'
usage-count-since-2013: '44'
volume: '8'
web-of-science-categories: Social Issues; Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
year: '2020'