Women Who Remain In Villages And The Stability Of Their Marriage

The women left in rural areas while their husbands have gone out for jobs in city areas are a new group that arises along with population shifts since reforming and opening in China. The women left in rural areas assume the responsibilities of the productive labor and the upbringing and support of a family alone that should be undertaken by the couple. Their marriage's most essential feature is the long-term living apart between the husbands' and their wives'. Of course, their marriage relation continues to maintain. The long-term space separation causes many marriage functions not be able to realize, and the stability of marriage faced with many challenges. The stability of marriage concerns woman's individual happiness, and affects rural community's harmony. This paper adopts the social exchange theory to examine the state of marriage of women who remain in the HC village after their husbands have left for cities to seek employment. It suggests that the separation between the husbands and wife decreases marital ties and increases chances for substitution. Given the high social costs of dissolution of marriages in the countryside, however, women who remain in village still try to keep their marriage intact. In any event, these are two forces that should not be neglected and may challenge women's marriages while remaining in the village.