THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON GENDER RELATIONS OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS IN CHINA
THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON GENDER RELATIONS OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS IN CHINA

Summary/Abstract: Industrialization of China has caused the great influx of peasants into urban areas to seek employment. Recently, rural-urban migration of entire rural family has become the new trend of this tide. In this article, how the rural-urban migration challenges the traditional gender and patriarchy was examined based on the empirical study on 89 rural-urban migrant households in Beijing. We conclude that rural-urban household movement has to some extent changed the pattern of gender-based division of labor, the gendered decision-making process and perceived fairness and satisfaction toward the change of gender relations in these households. The results proved that the impact of internal migration on family gender relations has similar pattern with that of international migration, which implies that that it is not the new cultural and social settings that challenge gender relationships in these rural-urban migrant families, but the difficulties and opportunities associating with moving. The comparison between three different types of rural-urban migrant households reveals the change of women’s labor position is one of the most important factors contributing to the change of gender relations within the households.

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