Using data from a survey in Songzi county of Hubei province, this paper studies the influence of children’s marriage form and individual factors on their family division from parents. The results reveal that children’s marriage form significantly affects their decision on family division. Sons in virilocal marriage are more likely to undertake family division than daughters in uxorilocal marriage, and the timing of division is earlier for the former than for the latter. The likelihood of family division has been steadily increasing for sons, and daughters married in the period of collective economy. The majority of family division concentrates on the first 5 years after marriage for sons and distributes more or less equally over the first 5 years after marriage for daughters. Children’s number of brothers has positive marginal effects and education has negative effects on their family division. Demographic and socioeconomic causes underlying this phenomenon as well as its social implications are also discussed.
