Non-agricultural employment, stacked household energy consumption, and gender disparities: an evidence from rural China

Abstract This study examines the impact of non-agricultural employment among rural labor on household energy stacking consumption in China, focusing on gender differences. Utilizing pooled cross-sectional data from the 2015 and 2018 China General Social Survey (CGSS), this study employs a fixed-effects ordered logit model for empirical analysis. The findings are: (i) Non-agricultural employment of rural women significantly promotes upward shifts in household energy stacking consumption, with a more pronounced effect than for men; (ii) In households with modernized family division of labor and where the spousal age difference is five years or less, non-agricultural employment significantly promotes an upward shift in household energy stacking consumption; and (iii) The income effect, information effect, and the capability effect partially mediate the relationship between non-agricultural employment and upward shifts in household energy stacking consumption, with the income effect being the most substantial mediator. Rural women exhibit a stronger mediating role through income and information effects than men, while the gender gap in the mediating role of capability effects is relatively small. Based on these conclusions, it is recommended to enhance non-agricultural employment in rural households, particularly by removing barriers for rural women; to promote gender equality and advocate for both genders’ participation in an upward shift in household energy stacking consumption; to strengthen media dissemination and community engagement for clean energy awareness and to increase investment in rural human capital to enhance capabilities related to clean energy adoption and use.