Who Cares?: Shift of the Infant Nursing under Post-Mao Gender Politics of Urban China

Since the reform era began in the late 1970s, the landscape of childcare has changed enormously in China. For example, there is a severe shortage of baby formula and because of the public concerns over food safety, imported formula has become more popular. Meanwhile, the breastfeeding rate in China has dropped in the last few decades, especially in the urban areas. According to the People’s Daily dated March 20 2014, the exclusive breastfeeding rate of children under 6 month old has declined from 67% in 1998 to 27.6% in 2008. In the urban areas the exclusive breastfeeding rate is only 15.8%, while in rural area it nearly doubles to 30.3%. Why do mothers in China tend to give up breastfeeding, despite having concerns about the safety of the baby formula? In order to approach this question, this paper focuses on the shift concerning who feeds the babies. For the urban parents of the current generation, it is common to hire nannies to take care of their small children, whereas previously mothers tended to feed the children themselves, through other kin or utilized day-care centers. In contrast, the nannies, most of whom are migrant women, leave their children behind in their rural villages. Through the survey data and document research, the paper reveals how the gendered socio-economic circumstances of Post-Mao regime have influenced this reconfiguration of child care.