A Study On Gender Differences In Work-Family Time Allocation Of Chinese Residents And Its Influencing Factors

With social development and modernization,time resources have become especially precious in the collision of work and family.How labor groups use their limited time to pursue the maximum welfare effect of time allocation has become a hot issue of widespread concern.This problem is especially prominent among the labor force families who all have income sources in China,and it is difficult for the labor force to have sufficient energy and time for household chores when they devote more time to labor market.Due to the existence of traditional gender concept in China,time allocation has gender difference,and the problem of work-family conflict is especially strong for married women.At the same time,the inherent urban-rural dual structure system in China makes the degree of contradiction between work input time and household work time allocation gradually deepen,and the gender difference further widens.In order to make the labor force develop healthily,establish a harmonious atmosphere within the family and improve gender equality and labor market policies,it is of great practical significance to explore the gender difference and their influencing factors in the work-family time allocation between husband and wife of the labor force.This paper uses the latest survey data from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)to cleanse the data and select a valid sample of 4280 couples according to the main idea of the study.A preliminary descriptive statistical analysis of the overall situation of couples in China’s labor force based on a work-family perspective,using gender role theory,family time allocation theory and work-family balance theory as the theoretical basis;this paper used the model to synthesize and summarize the mechanism of the factors affecting the domestic work time and work input time in the labor force;in order to explore the urban-rural difference,we divided the urban-rural groups and further studied the inner mechanism and gender difference.The study found that:(1)Relative income has a positive "U" shape relationship with both husband’s and wife’s household work time,but it is less binding for the husband than for the wife.In addition,relative income has an inverse U-shaped relationship with work engagement time.Although gender perceptions are gradually equal,the pattern of "men dominating outside and women dominating inside" has not changed;(2)Educational attainment has a significant negative effect on the time devoted to housework and work for both spouses.This effect is more pronounced for the group of wives,where increased education makes it easier for married women to escape from traditional attitudes,reflecting certain gender difference;(3)Age is positively related to both spouses’ work-home time,but individual age only plays a role in the wife’s work-commitment time.In addition,the total number of family members,the number of children,and the perception of household division of labor all have different effects on the work-family time allocation of the labor force;(4)Dividing the urban-rural analysis,traditional social norms have a stronger effect on the confinement of rural labor families than urban ones.Work-family conflicts are more pronounced for married women living in rural areas.