Longer Time for School: The 1981 Marriage Law and Rural Female Education in China

Abstract

In 1981, China’s new Marriage Law raised the minimum marriage age from 18 to 20 for women and from 20 to 22 for men. This study examines the effect of this law amendment on rural women’s upper secondary education. Taking the new Marriage Law as a natural experiment, this study employs a regression probability jump and kink with difference-in-differences design, as well as a cohort difference-in-differences strategy. The results jointly suggest a significant improvement in rural women’s enrollment in upper secondary school, facilitated by the extended duration they can spend in school due to the new Marriage Law.