The Influence of Spouse’s Income on Married Women’s Labor Participation

Gender equality is a hot issue in today’s society, and economic independence is important for women to have more say in her family and the society. This paper examines the effect of spouse’s labor income on married women’s labor participation by using data of CGSS 2015. To give a clear comparison, the paper also examines the effect of wives’ labor income on married men’s labor participation. The result shows that the husband’s labor income share of total family income does have a significantly negative impact on married women, while the wife’s labor income share of total family income doesn’t have a significant impact on married men. Possible explanations and suggestions are proposed to deal with this phenomenon.