Who is the ideal parent of my children? A choice experiment study in China

Existing research has extensively examined the determinants of fertility attitudes and behaviors. However, with the primary focus on whether and when to have children, previous studies have overlooked a crucial dimension—who to have children with. This study innovatively employs the choice experiment method to examine the preferred characteristics of childbearing partners among the Chinese. We also estimate the partial utility and willingness to pay of different attributes of partners in people's fertility decision-making. We further explore the heterogeneities by gender, hukou (household registration) status, education, and birth cohort. Our results indicate that the following characteristics are preferred in ideal childbearing partners: youth, higher socioeconomic status, homeownership, better family background, and more attractive appearance. Compared to men, women place higher importance on income, family background, education, and homeownership. In contrast, men value physical appearance more than women. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that men's preferred characteristics in an ideal childbearing partner do not vary by hukou status, yet urban women have a stronger preference for partners with a better family background compared to rural women. The preference for highly educated partners increases with one's own years of schooling for both men and women, implying a strong tendency for educational homogamy in China. We did not observe substantial cohort changes, except that men born after 1990 place a slightly higher importance on physical appearance compared to other cohorts. Our results suggest that the choice of childbearing partners corresponds to the wider patterns of social stratification in China.