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Can married women's labor force participation reduce the consumption gap among rural households? Micro-level evidence from China
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DOI：10.3389/fsufs.2026.1891361.png)
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Abstract
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IntroductionThe labor force participation of rural married women is of great significance for enhancing family welfare; narrowing the urban-rural income gap; and facilitating agricultural economic development. This paper examines the impact of rural married women's labor force participation on household consumption inequality.MethodsUtilizing data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS); this paper constructs a measure of consumption inequality based on the Kakwani index derived from the total consumption expenditure of rural households; and employs the fractional response model together with an instrumental variable approach to empirically examine this relationship.ResultsThe findings indicate that rural married women's labor force participation significantly mitigates household consumption inequality; and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis reveals that such participation influences household consumption inequality mainly through three channels: raising income levels; enhancing social capital; and adjusting consumption preferences. Further analysis shows that work intensity and commuting pressure exert a negative moderating effect on this relationship-that is; higher work intensity and greater commuting pressure weaken the mitigating effect of women's labor force participation on household consumption inequality. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the alleviating effect is more pronounced among households with middle-to-high assets; those not experiencing shocks; those not engaged in industrial or commercial activities; those located in non-labor-exporting provinces; smaller households; and those without minor children.DiscussionThis study provides important empirical evidence on how rural married women's labor force participation reduces household consumption inequality; and offers policy recommendations aimed at harnessing the demographic dividend of rural women and promoting consumption growth in rural areas.
Keywords:
work intensity
consumption inequality
agricultural development
commuting pressure
female labor participation
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