Gender Inequality & Time Use

This project uses the China Family Panel Studies data to provide new evidence on the gender gap in time use among Chinese couples in both urban and rural areas. It also investigates whether education helps narrow the gender gap in time use among Chinese couples.

This research finds a substantial gender gap in time use patterns among Chinese couples across urban and rural areas and on both work and non-work days, with wives spending much more time on personal and household care and husbands spending more time on work and leisure/social activities. Having the same or higher levels of education than their husbands helps the urban wives to narrow the gender gap in time use, but the effect is mixed for rural wives. Findings from this project help shed light on policy debates regarding gender inequality in China and around the world.

Center members working on this project: Qin Gao, Xiaoran Wang, Fuhua Zhai, Rong Zhao, and Ningxin Zhu.

 

Columbia Affiliations
China Center for Social Policy