Market Wage, Child Care and the Employment of Married Women

This study analyzes the market wage, reservation wage, and unearned income on the probability of work participation of married women by using the longitudinal data of China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1989 to 2015 and a random effects probit model to address the heterogeneity problem. It is found the market wage positively affects the probability of work participation of married women; the reservation wage negatively affects the probability of work participation of married women; but the effect of unearned income is not statistically significant, which contrasts with most studies of developed countries. These effects differ by age and hukou (urban and rural) groups.