PUBLICATIONS & REPORTS

Contents Introduction

Market reforms in China have brought enormous changes to employment, most notably

the emergence of a competitive urban labor market. Researchers have argued that the human and political capital disadvantages of women and new discrimination are important factors that sustain gender gaps in the new urban labor market.

Analyzing a five-city urban labor survey, we show that gender disparities in human and political capital fail to explain gender gaps in work status and income. Moreover, we find no evidence of across-the-board discrimination against women. Instead, gender gaps in employment and earnings emerge primarily among the married and parents, groups for whom the gender gap in housework time is pronounced. Results suggest the need for further research on family-work conflict.