Chinese Husbands' Participation in Household Labor

The article examines Chinese husbands' participation in household labor using data from the China Health and Nutrition Study. The tradition that men dominate the outside and women dominate the inside is less apparent today than in the past. The first part of the tradition has changed a great deal. The majority of Chinese women are now employed in the labor force. If, as Marxist ideology espouses, labor force participation is the key to women's liberation, then modern Chinese women are clearly liberated, and rural women are more liberated than urban women. The article also focuses on the solution to the "double day" faced by Chinese wives as they work outside and then they have to tackle the household chores. Mobilizing Chinese husbands, especially rural husbands, to participate more in household labor is an obvious solution. The Chinese government has suggested changing Chinese peoples' eating habits to reduce their labor-intensive character. However, the relatively healthy diets of the Chinese people have contributed to low rates of some illnesses within the population. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
JOUR
Zai Zai, Lu
Maume, David J.
Bellas, Marcia L.
2000
Journal of Comparative Family Studies
31
2
191-215
00472328
794