Factors that influence female labor force supply in China

Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) database of the employment of married women in 2006, this paper analyzed the factors that influenced the labor force participation of female workers in urban and rural areas, from the perspectives of individuals and families. The Probit Regression suggested that factors associated with families were of more importance than individual factors and there existed large differences between urban and rural areas. For women from urban areas, individual factors played a more important role than those from rural areas, while family factors were more significant for those who came from rural areas. Thus labor market policies should consider the structural difference between urban and rural women.