
Education is a key pathway for promoting social mobility and human capital accumulation, and its equitable distribution is crucial for stability and development. In traditional Chinese society, women had significantly fewer educational opportunities than men, leading to significant disparities in socioeconomic status between the sexes. The Compulsory Education Law and family planning policies have effectively reduced gender inequality in education, with data from 2020 showing a significant increase in the number of years of education for women. However, rural families with multiple children still face the burden of education expenses. Under the influence of budget constraints and traditional notions, gender differences in education investment persist. Against this backdrop, a study published in Consumer Economics analyzed data from the 2018 China Household Income Project (CHIP) rural household survey and macroeconomic statistics explore gender differences in education investment among rural families with multiple children and their underlying causes.
The study found:
1.There are significant gender differences in educational investment among rural households, and these differences exhibit notable birth order heterogeneity. There are significant educational investment differences between eldest sons and eldest daughters, meaning that households are more likely to sacrifice educational resources allocated to eldest daughters to meet the educational resource needs of their younger siblings, while there are no significant educational investment differences between youngest sons and youngest daughters;
2.In regions with lower public education expenditure levels and households with lower income levels, gender differences in educational investment by rural families are more pronounced;
3.In regions with higher sex ratios at birth, stronger clan cultures, and rural families with lower maternal socioeconomic status, gender differences in educational investment by rural families are more pronounced, and the educational resources available to girls are more easily influenced by birth order.
The research suggests:
1.The government needs to formulate more targeted educational fiscal compensation strategies to enhance the benefits for disadvantaged groups. For example, it can increase the intensity of childbirth subsidies and educational expense exemptions, provide educational subsidies for children in special birth order positions, and ensure the equalization of educational opportunities for children in rural households;
2.On one hand, fiscal funds and educational assistance should be prioritized toward regions with low public education expenditures to alleviate the educational burden on rural families, and establish a basic public education service supply mechanism tailored to regional needs. On the other hand, efforts should be made to improve township education, providing low-cost, high-quality nearby education for farmer families, while prioritizing educational resources toward low-income families to meet the educational needs of impoverished households.
3.At all levels, fiscal budgets should prioritize funding for compulsory education in counties and below where the sex ratio at birth is high and clan culture is prevalent, establishing a budget growth mechanism linked to urban areas. Additionally, the government should uphold educational equity, guide farmers to adopt the correct educational values of “seeking knowledge through education,” eliminate gender biases, prioritize women's education, and establish targeted girls' schools to mitigate educational investment disparities caused by regional cultural differences.