The Impact Of Minimum Wage Policy On Women’s Childcare Time

For women who are both material producers and social reproducers,the choice between work and family is a perennial problem.Nowadays,the work-family conflict faced by women of marriageable age,especially the contradiction between professional income and childcare,is becoming more and more prominent.How to make a reasonable choice between work and childcare is not only related to the happiness of women’s personal families,but also the long-term development of the whole labor market and society.So what are the influences of work on childcare? Although some scholars have examined the impact of work on parenting time from the perspective of wages,there is still a lack of exploration from the policy perspective of the minimum wage.In consideration of the above,this paper explores the impact of minimum wage policy on women’s childcare time based on the micro data of women with children in China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1997 to 2015,combined with the minimum wage standards of each region in the corresponding years,and using a multi-period difference in difference method.On this basis,the group variability of the minimum wage increase on women’s childcare time is clarified.And the underlying mechanism of the impact is also further explored.This study brought about the following conclusions:(1)The increase in the minimum wage significantly reduces women’s childcare time,a result that remains robust after accounting for model endogeneity.(2)The impact of the minimum wage increase varies for different groups,with a more pronounced negative effect on childcare time for women in rural areas who are younger,have lower incomes and lower education levels.(3)The minimum wage may have the effect of reducing female childcare time by boosting the income of the female spouse as well as the family as a whole.(4)The minimum wage policy may have the effect of reducing women’s childcare time by affecting women’s wages,family income,and women’s work behavior.In this regard,this paper also puts forward corresponding policy recommendations: women should reasonably arrange childcare activities at home to ensure the healthy growth of children.The government should continuously improve the policy system and public service to solve the worries of different groups of women.Families and enterprises should actively provide solid protection for women’s childcare in order to help them better balance work and childcare activities.