RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Longer Time for School: The 1981 Marriage Law and Rural Female Education in China
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0822-12475R5
DO 10.3368/jhr.0822-12475R5
A1 Zhang, Lin
YR 2024
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2024/07/09/jhr.0822-12475R5.abstract
AB 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.