The impact of digital development on non-agricultural employment of rural women: evidence from the broadband China strategy

In developing countries, the employment of rural women is a crucial component of livelihood issues, with implications for sustainable social development, poverty alleviation, and the realization of gender equality. This study employs a quasi-natural experiment approach based on the Broadband China strategic pilot project. Through constructing a multi-temporal differences-in-differences empirical model, it analyzes the impact of digital development on non-agricultural employment of rural women in China, along with the underlying mechanisms. Empirical results indicate a significant positive effect of digital development on non-agricultural employment for rural women. This impact is more pronounced among younger, highly educated, married, parous, and those residing in main grain-producing regions. Mechanism analysis reveals that, on the labour supply side, digital development enhances the probability of rural women participating in non-agricultural employment by improving their labour force quality. On the labour demand side, digital development fosters the development of emerging industries and improves the employment environment, thereby providing more opportunities for rural women to engage in non-agricultural employment. Based on these findings, this study offers policy implications for advancing digital infrastructure construction and digital economic development in rural China, addressing women’s employment challenges, and narrowing gender employment gaps.