The Impact of Family Care for the Elderly on Women’s Employment from the Perspective of Bargaining Power

Due to the wishes of the elderly and the traditional family culture in China, family care is the main way of providing for the aged, and women’s care is the main way. This is not conducive to the protection of women’s employment rights and the realization of self-worth under the background of increasing women’s autonomy. Based on the latest data of the China Health and Nutrition Survey Database (CHNS), this paper uses ordinary least squares (OLS) and the instrumental variable method of control endogeneity to analyze the influence of family care activities on the labor participation rate of married women. The innovation of this paper is to introduce family bargaining power into this kind of model for the first time, and further analyze the heterogeneity from the perspective of bargaining power differences. The empirical results show that the family elderly care activities have an obstacle effect on married women’s participation in employment, and the family members with strong bargaining power will significantly hinder employment, so this paper puts forward policy recommendations in line with the actual situation, hoping to provide theoretical support for the improvement of the social security system for the elderly.