Women's status in a rural Chinese setting

This study extends the literature by identifying two new dimensions of rural women's status (husband's housework sharing and women's exposure to the larger world, in addition to power and autonomy) based on rich information from a representative sample of 1,062 childbearing women in rural Yunnan, China. It utilizes linear structural relations models to operationalize and analyze variations in women's status. The findings show that women's status is multi-dimensional and cannot be captured under a single index. Female literacy and family socioeconomic status are positively associated with women's status, whereas the extended household structure and spousal age differences have a negative effect on women's status. Minority women and women from the plains area enjoy greater equality in housework sharing than the Han women and those from hilly villages. Han Chinese women and those residing in the plains area enjoy greater decision-making power than minority women and women residing in mountainous areas.