Women's market work and household status in rural China: Evidence from Jiangsu and Shandong in the late 1990s
利用江苏和山东乡镇企业男女员工的调查数据，从家务劳动时间、家务责任和家庭决策权三个指标衡量，发现女性家庭地位低于男性，且市场工资能减少女性的家务时间和责任，但市场工时无此效果。
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.