The Impact of Women’s Labor Participation on Rural Grassroots Government Trust and Measure: Evidence From Underdeveloped Areas in Northwest China

The Chinese government is actively promoting the rural revitalization strategy and has put forward more comprehensive requirements for rural grassroots governance. In China, the rural grassroots governments refer to township governments and village committees in rural areas. However, the establishment of villagers’ trust in the grassroots government is facing long-term and complex impacts brought about by gender inequality. Especially in underdeveloped areas, this has become a key factor restricting the trust in the grassroots government. Therefore, in-depth exploration of the impact of women’s labor participation on trust in the grassroots government and its mechanism is of great significance for promoting gender equality and achieving modernization of rural governance. Based on this, this paper uses the data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2014 to 2020 and employs a panel data model to demonstrate the effect of women’s labor participation on trust in the rural grassroots government. Subsequently, the paper uses a mechanism test model to examine the role of gender equality concepts in the main influence mechanism. The research finds that an increase in women’s labor participation significantly enhances their trust in the rural grassroots government. The results of the mechanism test show that gender equality concepts have a moderating effect, weakening the overall effect of women’s labor participation on trust in the rural grassroots government. The results of the heterogeneity analysis indicate that for women with an education duration of ≤12 years, the impact of their labor participation on trust in the rural grassroots government is more significant. Additionally, for women under the age of 40, the impact of their labor participation on trust in the rural grassroots government is also more significant. Based on these findings, this paper provides suggestions and policy references from aspects such as promoting the modernization of rural grassroots governance capabilities, promoting women’s labor participation, strengthening gender equality education, and optimizing the willingness to distribute household labor.