Gender-Differentiated Poverty among Migrant Workers: Aggregation and Decomposition Analysis of the Chinese Case for the Years 2012–2018

Jiquan Peng, Juan Chen and Liguo Zhang
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Jiquan Peng: School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China
Juan Chen: School of Business Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China
Liguo Zhang: School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-23

Abstract: The relative poverty statuses of female and male migrant workers are complex: (i) as a group, migrant workers are relatively better off than their rural hometown fellow residents but are deprived compared to the long-term residents of the cities to which they have immigrated, and (ii) gender differences exist between female and male subgroups, resulting from the interaction of gender bias and empowerment. The former can be further decomposed into characteristic-led bias and bias arising from discrimination. However, little is known about the different facets of gender-differentiated poverty that pose challenges for migrant workers. This study used data collected from Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) during the period 2012–2018 to address this research deficiency. This study conducted a poverty aggregation using a multidimensional relative poverty index system based on the Alkire and Foster (A–F) method to offer an overview of the gender differences in the overall relative poverty statuses of Chinese migrant workers. Further, to validate the existence of gender bias, this study conducted a decomposition analysis based on unconditional quantile regression (UCQR) of the explanatory model of relative poverty. The results of the combination of the aggregation and decomposition analysis data imply that, despite the gender discrimination that female migrant workers encounter, they are generally better off than male migrant workers due to their slight characteristic-led advantages and, more importantly, their autonomous poverty reduction activities. This study theoretically contributes to an in-depth understanding of gender differences in migrant workers’ relative poverty. In addition, this study advocates more targeted and sustainable poverty reduction solutions. For instance, more targeted payment transfer and long-term (vocational development, entrepreneurship, and lifestyle) empowering projects should be highlighted.

Keywords: relative poverty; migrant workers; gender differences; gender bias; A–F method; UCQR decomposition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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