Gender inequality and economic growth in rural China

This article joins the debate over the effect of market-driven economic dev elopment on women's work opportunities and household gender inequalities. I t assesses women's opportunities for off-farm employment, the relative cont ributions of female off-farm workers to household income, and the distribut ion of power in families whose male members have left for off-farm jobs, le aving women behind in agricultural work. We find that women are not uniform ly excluded from opportunities for off-farm employment and that economic de velopment does not uniformly increase gender inequalities within Chinese ho useholds. Although men are more likely than women to obtain off-farm employ ment in China, women's opportunities for off-farm work improve significantl y when the coexistence of local and regional marketization creates a shorta ge of male workers and compels employers to hire women. The relative size o f contributions to household income for male and female nonfarm workers als o narrows incrementally with increased marketization. In addition, women wh o are left in agricultural work are more likely to become heads of househol d, a position which brings greater household decision-making power to femal e family members. (C) 2000 Academic Press.