Couples’ Income And Well-being From The Perspective Of Gender Theory

Since the reform and opening up,China’s social stratification structure has developed in favor of women,women’s education level has caught up with or even surpassed that of men,and women’s labor force participation rate has also maintained a high level.With the improvement of women’s labor market conditions and the increasing equality of investment in human capital between the sexes,women’s income levels are rising,women’s income is increasingly becoming an important part of the family’s economic resources,and the phenomenon of wives earning more than husbands within the family is constantly emerging.Changes in the couple’s relative income(the share of personal income in the couple’s total income)may have an impact on the subjective well-being of the married sexes relative to the higher husband’s income within traditional households.Based on the survey data of the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey(CGSS2017),this paper uses multiple linear regression model(OLS)to explore the effects of absolute income and relative income on the subjective well-being of married sexes from the perspective of gender role identity.The education dimension analyzes the influence of couples’ absolute income on subjective well-being and the influence of couples’ relative income on subjective well-being,and finally examines whether subjective status identity has a mediating effect between couples’ absolute income,relative income and subjective well-being.The main finding of this paper are as follows:(1)There are significant differences in the influence of absolute income on the subjective well-being of married sexes,and the subjective well-being of married men is mainly affected by personal income.The subjective well-being of married women is primarily influenced by their spouse’s income.There is no significant difference between urban and rural areas and education level in the impact of absolute income of husband and wife on the subjective well-being of married sexes,that is,married men in urban and rural areas and different education levels pay more attention to their absolute income,and married women in urban and rural areas and different education levels pay more attention to the absolute income of their spouses.(2)The impact of couples’ relative income on the subjective well-being of married sexes differed significantly in the gender dimension,and for married men,the higher the relative income of individuals,the higher their subjective well-being.For married women,the higher the individual’s relative income,the lower the subjective well-being.There were significant differences in the impact of the relative income of husband and wife on the subjective well-being of married sexes in the urban-rural and educational dimensions,that is,the impact of relative income on urban married sexes was not significant.In rural groups,an increase in the relative income of wives reduces the subjective well-being of the married sex.In the higher education level sample,the increase in the relative income of wives reduced the subjective well-being of the married sex;In the lower education level sample,relative income had no significant effect on men’s subjective well-being and had a significant negative effect on women.(3)Status identity has a mediating role between men’s personal income and subjective well-being,women’s spouse income and subjective well-being,and couples’ relative income and subjective sexual well-being.This paper argues that traditional gender role identity is the main reason for the difference in the influence of couples’ income on the subjective well-being of married sexes in different samples.This paper puts forward two suggestions for improving the subjective happiness of Chinese residents:on the one hand,it is necessary to promote economic development and increase residents’ income;On the other hand,it is necessary to promote the modernization and equality of the concept of gender roles.This study explains the influence of couples’ income on subjective well-being from the perspective of gender role identity,and incorporates status identity into the analytical framework,which provides new ideas for understanding how couples’ income affects the subjective well-being of married sexes.