Women's market work and household status in rural China: Evidence from Jiangsu and Shandong in the late 1990s

Abstract

This paper addresses the question, “does market work improve women's household status in rural China?” using survey data of men and women working in Township and Village Enterprises in rural Jiangsu and Shandong. This paper measures household status by domestic labor time, responsibility for domestic tasks, and household decision-making control. It finds that women have lower household status than men, using these three indicators. Based upon regression results, this paper concludes that for women market wages reduce domestic work time and responsibility for domestic tasks but market hours do not. The nature of bargaining warrants further research since the evidence that financial resources contribute to increased household decision-making control is mixed. Should employment opportunities for women increase with China's membership in the WTO, improvements in women's household status will depend upon their wages and the gender wage gap.