Exposure to Husbands' Work-Limiting Health Events: Married Women's Labor Supply in China

Using data from the 2010 to 2022 survey waves of the China Family Panel Studies and an event study model, this paper investigates the dynamic effects of husbands' work-limiting health events on married women's labor supply. Results show the presence of a caregiver effect and an added worker effect in Chinese families following a work-limiting health event experienced by the husband; women's labor force participation and hours worked fall temporarily after the health event, but then rise significantly in subsequent periods and stabilize in the long term. Our results suggest that the temporary reduction in women's labor supply is due to caring for unhealthy husbands and that the long-term increase in labor supply is due to a permanent drop in the husband's income and an increase in health spending. Furthermore, the impact of the husband's health event on the wife's labor market outcomes is more pronounced in rural households and among women who are self-employed.