Gender difference in time-use of off-farm employment in rural Sichuan, China

This study examined time-use in off-farm employment of female and male laborers from mountain and upland areas in Sichuan, China. The researchers conducted a tracking survey of 400 households in 2008 and 2012. We calculated the probabilities of rural laborer involving in one of four categories of employment (i.e., on-farm, < 0.5 year off-farm employment, 0.5-1 year off-farm employment, and whole-year off-farm employment) by using multinomial logistic models. We found that although the rate of females engaged in off-farm employment was lower than that of males overall, females tended to engage in long-term off-farm employment. The influences of household structure factors (e.g., marital status, the presence of pre-school children, the presence of school-age children, and the presence of elderly people in the household) on laborers' participation in off-farm employment were significantly different by gender. The same variable may have different impacts on the three off-farm employment types. Employing multinomial regression and separate models for different laborer groups revealed considerable heterogeneity. The results are significant to many current policy debates in China, such as the concerns regarding left-behind children and elderly people.