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Early work on China's Two-Child Policy identified cost as a major disincentive to having a second child, but financial constraints may work in tandem with cultural factors to shape childbearing desire. In addition, most research has excluded men from the sample. This paper develops Yan's (2003) concepts of 'new' and 'traditional' fertility cultures to childbearing desire, a key component of fertility decision-making that is poorly understood (Hayford & Agadjanian, 2017). In particular, we focus on how differing conceptions of children's needs relate to perceptions of cost. This paper reports on semi-structured interviews with 29 men and women in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. We found that interviewees who espoused views consistent with a traditional fertility framework were more interested in having a second child, and were less concerned about cost. In addition, men were more likely to espouse views consistent with a traditional fertility cultural framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, there is a "psy‐boom," which is understood as the rapid increase in the provision of psychological services and interest in psychological concepts since the initiation of market reforms. This is a heavily gendered phenomenon. This paper seeks to explore why women are drawn into the psy‐boom and what sustains their participation in it. Following a year of fieldwork engaging in various forms of psychotherapy training in the city of Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan province, China, the paper looks in detail at three women who engage in the psy‐boom. The psy‐boom creates a space for these women to try to articulate complex and often competing desires thrown up by the gendered circumstances in which they find themselves. The paper shows how each of these three women draws on their various engagements with the psy‐boom to try to formulate and actualize their visions of the good life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work is a fast-growing profession in China, with the workforce numbering approximately 1.2 million in 2018. Studies have shown, however, that social workers in China experience high burnout rates and significant psychological distress. Analyzing data collected from 897 social workers in Chengdu, China, we applied the job demands and resources (JD-R) theory to examine the effects of JD-R on burnout and psychological distress in social workers, as well as whether these relations are moderated by gender and age. Results supported a dual process by which JD-R affected both social workers' burnout and psychological distress through health impairment and motivation processes. Job demands (JD) were associated with high burnout and psychological distress. Meanwhile, job resources (JR) were associated with reduced burnout and psychological distress. Results indicated that JR had greater effects on burnout and distress than did JD. Women and younger professionals appeared to be affected most by JD and psychological distress. The findings support a need for interventions that buffer the effects of JD-R on burnout and psychological distress in social workers in China, focusing on women and younger professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]