The anti-domestic violence law and women's welfare: Evidence from a natural experiment in China

Abstract

China's first national Anti-Domestic Violence Law was enacted in March 2016. It offers legal protection to the victims of domestic violence. This paper estimates the intent-to-treat effect of its implementation on women's welfare. Using a nationally representative dataset, our difference-in-differences estimator shows that the law has significantly increased the life satisfaction of married women. Further exploration shows that the increase in life satisfaction is greater for women with higher salaries, better education, and of younger age than their respective counterparts. The increase in life satisfaction is realized through women's increased self-confidence, health status, and intra-household bargaining power as measured by household expenditures on goods favored by women. We also show that the law's implementation might have a broader effect on women's social status, reflected through their increased probability of being promoted and higher salaries.