Gender differences in mobility among rural residents: Evidence from Guiyang, Western China

Abstract

Mobility is an important dimension of residents' quality of life. Although studies report higher mobility among rural males, binary gender analyses often miss nuances of gender roles across social contexts. Using Guiyang's 2021 household travel survey, this study examines gender differences in travel distance and daily travel mode among rural residents, including non-trip-makers during the survey period. Descriptive statistics indicate that males travel farther and have a higher share of car use, whereas females record more walk/bike. We further examine the intersection of gender with education, employment, family structure (child status), and household vehicle ownership. A two-part Gamma model and a multinomial logit model are employed to analyze average travel distance and daily travel mode, respectively. Outcome-scale predictions show that females are significantly less likely than comparable males to make trips. The trip-making gender gap is smaller in the high-school-or-above group than in the elementary-or-below group. It is also smaller in the off-farm than in the on-farm group. For travel distance, females travel less than males in both conditional mean distance and per-capita daily distance, but the conditional-mean gap is not statistically significant in some subgroups, such as those without children or without car ownership. Mode-choice estimates reveal a consistent within-group pattern: within groups sharing the same attributes, females are significantly more likely to choose walk/bike than their male counterparts, while males are more likely to choose cars. These findings characterize multidimensional gender differences in rural mobility and underscore heterogeneity across socioeconomic contexts.