Love or Bread? What Determines Subjective Wellbeing Among Left-Behind Women in Rural China?

Abstract

Using data from a survey conducted in Chaohu City among rural women, this study analyzes their subjective wellbeing, their marital relationships and livelihood strategy, and also analyzes how marital relationship and livelihood strategy affect the subjective wellbeing of left-behind women in comparison with non-left-behind women and temporary-left-behind women. It is found that both the marital relationship which represents “love” and the livelihood strategy which represents “bread” affect the subjective wellbeing among the three groups of rural women. However, the importance and specific contents of “love” and “bread” to the women varies among the three groups. For the left-behind women, “love” and the “bread” are equally important and play independent roles in subjective wellbeing. For the temporary-left-behind and the non-left-behind women, both “love” and “bread” are important, with “bread” as the apparent foundation of the “love”.