The Care Economy in Post-Reform China: Feminist Research on Unpaid and Paid Work and Well-Being |
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Authors: | Rachel Connelly Xiao-yuan Dong Joyce Jacobsen Yaohui Zhao |
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Affiliation: | 1. Bowdoin College – Economics 9700 College Station, Brunswick, Maine 04011, USA e-mail: e-connelly@bowdoin.edu;2. Economics – University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9, Canada e-mail: x.dong@uwinnipeg.ca;3. Wesleyan University – Economics Public Affairs Center, 238 Church Street, Middletown, Connecticut 06459, USA e-mail: jjacobsen@wesleyan.edu;4. National School of Development, Peking University 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100871, China e-mail: yhzhao@nsd.pku.edu.cn |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTAs China embarked on the path of economic and social reforms, social provisions from the Maoist era were dismantled, and care responsibilities shifted back from the state to the household. Rural–urban migration, a steep decline in fertility, and increasing longevity have led to changes in the age structure of the population both overall and by region. Using seven different surveys, the eleven contributions in this volume study the distributive consequences of post-reform care policies and the impact of unpaid care responsibilities on women’s and men’s opportunities and gender inequality. Overall, reduced care services have created care deficits for disadvantaged groups, including low-income rural elderly and children. The shifted care burden has also limited women’s ability to participate fully in the market economy and has contributed to rising gender inequalities in labor force participation, off-farm employment, earnings, pensions, and mental health outcomes. |
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Keywords: | Childcare China reforms eldercare employment gender inequality unpaid work |
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