Qualitative Research On Urban Women’s Return To Family From The Perspective Of Structuration Theory

Data from the World Bank showed that the female labor force participation rate in China is declining significantly,and more and more women are quitting the job market and returning to family life.Although women’s return to the family brings a lot of negative problems to women,why do more and more women choose to give up labor participation and return to the family?Based on this confusion,this research mainly adopts Structuration theory,using the method of qualitative research,the interview object is a full-time housewife,delving into “actors of women as individuals,in the case of structure factors how our body initiative,utilize,response,shape structure elements” is a core problem,thus to provide new interpretations to understand women return to the family,and to present women’s voices for the formulation and improvement of relevant social policies in the future,the study found that:Firstly,the behavioral choice of urban women returning to family is “limited choice” under the restriction of structure.The constraints of the structure are reflected in three levels: at the micro level,it is mainly reflected in women’s personal identity as caregivers,which invisibly regulates their family-oriented behavior choices;The middle level is mainly reflected in the gender power structure of the family,which is mainly influenced by the husband.At the macro level,women are restricted by market rules,social culture and child care system.Under the influence of various structural factors,women usually choose to leave their jobs and return to their families in the form of “having to do so”.Secondly,as individuals in action,urban women are not passively subjected to structural constraints.They will use their knowledge and resources to reproduce their own behavior patterns and rationalize their behavior through reflective monitoring.They effectively integrate their resources and expand their social networks to form their own behavioral logic.Thirdly,from the perspective of the interaction between individual and structure,women whilst under the guidance of the structure and action of the return to the family,but they to seek the way to solve the problem in virtually to consolidate the existing social gender division of labor,and gender and marketization of child care system,and this,in fact,in turn,become part of the structure,the women continue to play.The actions of these groups also provide a new possibility and direction for us to reflect on the dilemma and breakthrough of women under the dualistic paradox of“family-market”.