Does the Happiness of Contemporary Women in China Depend on Their Husbands’ Achievements?

Abstract

The paper investigates the spillover effect of identity within the family, that is, whether and how the spouse’s political identity affects happiness in the family. Using the Chinese General Social Survey, we show that the wife’s Communist Party of China (CPC) identity has a null effect on a husband’s happiness, but a husband’s CPC identity has a heterogeneous spillover effect on a wife’s happiness: it has a positive effect on a non-CPC wife’s happiness but a null effect on a CPC wife’s happiness. Nearest neighboring matching further corroborates these results. CPC membership is regarded as important social capital; thus, the findings reflect a glaring social phenomenon that the well-being of women in disadvantaged positions (e.g., living in rural areas and having less education) continues to be related to their husbands’ achievements. Additionally, women in advantaged positions (e.g., living in urban areas and having more education) can eliminate their dependence on their husbands after receiving equal political and economic opportunities.