The Bidirectional Causal Relationship between Housework and Income:Theoretical Debate and Empirical Exploration
This paper adopts a cross-lagged model to investigate the reciprocal causal relationships between housework and income using two waves of data from the China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)in 2018 and 2020.The findings reveal a significant bidirectional causali-ty between a wife's absolute income level and her hours doing housework.Specifically,as the wife's absolute income increases,her house-work hours decrease,and vice versa.Moreover,there is an inverted U-shaped trend in the husband's involvement in housework as the wife's relative income rises,initially increasing before eventually decreasing.Notably,an increase in the husband's hours doing housework has a positive impact on both the wife's absolute and relative incomes.Thus,a dual causal relationship emerges between the husband's housework hours and the wife's relative income.These observations highlight the intertwined and reinforcing nature of gender inequalities in both public and private domains.Addressing these disparities requires efforts to promote equal and harmonious gender relationships in labor markets and the equitable distribution of housework at home.
houseworkincomebidirectional causalityCross-lagged Model
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