Finding a Wife: The Impact of China's One-Child Policy on the Market and Pre-Marital Educational Investments

Abstract

China’s One-Child Policy and cultural preference for sons have created a large gender gap in the population with thirty million more men than women. This shortage of women has increased competition in the marriage market and heightened the importance of education, which generally increases the individual’s attractiveness. While it may seem likely that households spend more on the males’ education to increase their competitiveness, it is difficult to generalize since the one-child limitation may compel parents to dedicate full resources towards the child, regardless of gender. This paper 1) studies how gender impacts pre-marital educational expenditures on a household level and 2) predicts changes in educational spending behaviors that might occur after the removal of the One-Child Policy. We find no gender differences in educational expenditures for single-child households and favoritism towards males in multi-children households prior to 2013. After 2013, all households with sons suddenly spent less on education than households with daughters, leading us to expect that the removal of the One-Child Policy will increase female educational expenditures. We theorize that this sudden shift in spending behaviors is a result of the anticipated rise in female population, which would create a more competitive space for women in the marriage market and incentivize increased investments in education.