台灣農家婦女時間分配之實證研究

Empirical Analysis of Time Allocation Among Farm Women in Taiwan

對於一般勞工之分析，婦女勞動供給的選擇大多著重於市場有酬工作、家務工作與休閒之時間分配，然而因農業生產具有季節性，農家婦女可以在非農忙期到農場外工作的機會，故此分類對於農家婦女而言並非十分恰當。又農家婦女還要獨自負擔起家務工作，因此相較於其他行業之婦女時間分配而言，農家婦女時間分類更趨複雜。本研究嘗試利用行政院農業委員會農糧署於2003年在臺灣地區農家戶口抽樣調查資料，將農家婦女時間使用分成三類：農場內、農場外工作與家務工作，並利用multivariate probit model進行實證分析，以了解影響農家婦女在農場內、農場外工作與家務工作時間分配之影響因素。另外，本文亦探討同一農戶中不同角色之農家婦女時間應用的相互關連性。實證分析結果指出，農家婦女年齡、教育程度、農場特性與家庭特性是影響農家婦女時間分配的重要因素。其中，隨著教育程度提高，時間分配在農場內工作與家務工作之機率將會隨之減少；相反的，其投資於農場外工作之機率將增加。 In contrast to the analysis of female labor supply on the general population, to examine time allocation among farm women is complicated. This is because time spent on off-farm work, on-farm work, and unpaid housework of farm women have to be considered jointly. This study contributes to this research issue by focusing on time allocation problem between on/off farm work, and unpaid housework of farm women in Taiwan. Using a national representative sample of farm women, we estimate a multivariate probit model to examine the extent to which socio-demographic characteristics, family condition, geographical heterogeneity are associated with the time allocation in each of the activity of farm women. Results indicate that human capital is an important factor for time allocation. Farm women who have higher education spent less time on-farm work and unpaid housework. In contrast, they spent more time on off-farm job market.

In contrast to the analysis of female labor supply on the general population, to examine time allocation among farm women is complicated. This is because time spent on off-farm work, on-farm work, and unpaid housework of farm women have to be considered jointly. This study contributes to this research issue by focusing on time allocation problem between on/off farm work, and unpaid housework of farm women in Taiwan. Using a national representative sample of farm women, we estimate a multivariate probit model to examine the extent to which socio-demographic characteristics, family condition, geographical heterogeneity are associated with the time allocation in each of the activity of farm women. Results indicate that human capital is an important factor for time allocation. Farm women who have higher education spent less time on-farm work and unpaid housework. In contrast, they spent more time on off-farm job market.