The effects of women's livelihood strategy choices on rural household cooking energy consumption: Taking Hubei Province as an example
[Objective] The energy transition from firewood and coal to gas and electricity reflects an upgrade in household energy consumption structure, playing a crucial role in improving household welfare. In traditional society, most domestic responsibilities are run by women. This study built a theoretica...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | zho |
| Published: |
Science Press, PR China
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Ziyuan Kexue |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.resci.cn/fileup/1007-7588/PDF/1747037919410-738162570.pdf |
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| Summary: | [Objective] The energy transition from firewood and coal to gas and electricity reflects an upgrade in household energy consumption structure, playing a crucial role in improving household welfare. In traditional society, most domestic responsibilities are run by women. This study built a theoretical framework of the interactions between gender-based labor allocation and household cooking energy choices to analyze the effects of women's livelihood strategy choices on household cooking energy consumption in the urbanization context. [Methods] Based on theoretical analyses, this study employed an instrumental variable method and using micro-level survey data from rural households in Hubei province in 2021 to test the hypotheses. [Results] (1) Women's rural-urban migration is primarily driven by the outmigration of male family members, while their local livelihood strategy choices are mainly influenced by local off-farm employment networks. (2) Ceteris paribus, compared to other livelihood strategy choices, women's rural-urban migration significantly reduces household energy burdens by approximately 22.74%, whereas local off-farm employment increases household modern cooking energy consumption by about 1211.75 kgce and significantly raises its proportion in household cooking energy consumption. (3) From the time allocation view, more time spent by women on domestic activities are associated with a higher proportion of modern energy in household energy consumption, likely due to greater energy savings and reliance on modern cooking stoves. [Conclusion] Under the traditional division of labor characterized by “women managing domestic affairs and men work outside”, women's livelihood choices have a more significant impact on rural household cooking energy transition compared to men. Notably, non-migrated women's local off-farm employment plays a crucial role in the structure transition of household cooking energy consumption. These findings emphasize the importance of enhancing women's decision-making power and diversifying women's livelihood strategies in rural energy transition. |
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| ISSN: | 1007-7588 |