市场化改革以来，从事非农就业的女性劳动者家庭照料责任与工作之间的冲突更为凸显。照料惩罚可能是导致男女性别工资差距的主要原因之一，尤其是对于收入低、工作弹性小的低端制造业工人群体来说，然而已有研究缺乏对该群体的关注。本研究利用北京师范大学社会学院2022年开展的P跨国公司中国产业链工人状况调查数据，探究劳动密集型制造业工人的性别工资差距状况以及未成年子女照料安排对性别工资差距的影响。此次调查采用两阶段聚类概率抽样方法，获得P跨国公司中国产业链工人的代表性样本。本研究基于描述性统计、OLS回归模型和Oaxaca-Blinder分解方法进行统计分析。

研究结果表明：①劳动密集型制造业工人中存在着显著的性别工资差距，男性的小时工资比女性平均高3.47元（p<0.001）。②男女工人在未成年子女的照料安排上存在显著的性别差异（p<0.001），27.1%的女工是未成年子女的主要照料者，仅有3%将照料责任主要交予配偶，仅有6.9%的男工报告自己是未成年子女的主要照料者，20.5%的男工均由配偶承担主要的照料责任。③控制了人力资本、社会人口特征及地区和行业因素后，照料对工人存在工资惩罚。④在控制了人力资本、社会人口特征及地区和行业因素后，女工经历了显著的照料工资惩罚。当女工自己或女工和配偶是未成年子女的主要照料者，或子女由学校托管/没人照看时,她们的小时工资显著低于由（外）祖父母主要照料时的10%（p<0.01）、11%（p<0.05）和9%（p<0.1），而男工经历的照料惩罚并不明显。当男工自己、男工和配偶是未成年子女的主要照顾者或学校托管/无人照看时，他们的小时工资收入分别显著高于女工的15%（p<0.05）、15%（p<0.01）和21%（p<0.05）。⑤工人工作技能和经验仍然是导致性别工资差距的主要原因，解释了约37%的性别工资差距，而未成年子女的照料安排解释掉性别工资差距的约15%。

本研究通过对P跨国公司中国产业链工人未成年子女的照料安排及其对工人工资影响的考察，揭示出家庭内部的性别化照料分工是导致工人性别工资差距的重要因素，此研究发现对以往的母职惩罚相关文献做了延展与补充。基于研究发现，本文提出以下政策建议：社会和企业应当完善照料支持体系的建设，缓解照料给女工所带来的负面影响，以促进劳动力市场的性别平等。

Since the market-oriented reform, the conflict between family care responsibilities and work for female workers engaged in non-agricultural employment has become more prominent. Care penalty may be one of the main reasons for the gender wage gap, especially for low-end manufacturing workers with low income and little job flexibility. However, existing research lacks attention to this group. This study utilizes the survey data of the worker status in the Chinese industrial chain of P multinational company conducted by the School of Sociology, Beijing Normal University in 2022 to explore the gender wage gap among labor-intensive manufacturing workers and the impact of childcare arrangements for minor children on the gender wage gap. The survey adopts a two-stage cluster probability sampling method to obtain a representative sample of P multinational company's Chinese industrial chain workers. This study performs statistical analysis based on descriptive statistics, OLS regression models, and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methods.

The research results show that: ① There is a significant gender wage gap among labor-intensive manufacturing workers, with male hourly wages averaging 3.47 yuan higher than female wages (p<0.001). ② There are significant gender differences in childcare arrangements for minor children between male and female workers (p<0.001). 27.1% of female workers are the primary caregivers for minor children, while only 3% primarily entrust their spouses with the caregiving responsibilities. Only 6.9% of male workers report that they are the primary caregivers for minor children, and 20.5% of male workers rely mainly on their spouses for childcare. ③ After controlling for human capital, socio-demographic characteristics, and regional and industry factors, caregiving imposes a wage penalty on workers. ④ After controlling for human capital, socio-demographic characteristics, and regional and industry factors, female workers experience significant caregiving wage penalties. When female workers themselves or female workers and their spouses are the primary caregivers for minor children, or when children are left unsupervised or under school care, their hourly wages are significantly lower than those where grandparents are the primary caregivers by 10% (p<0.01), 11% (p<0.05), and 9% (p<0.1), respectively. However, the caregiving penalty for male workers is not significant. When male workers themselves, male workers and their spouses are the primary caregivers for minor children, or when children are left unsupervised or under school care, their hourly wages are significantly higher than those of female workers by 15% (p<0.05), 15% (p<0.01), and 21% (p<0.05), respectively. ⑤ Workers' job skills and experience remain the primary reason for the gender wage gap, accounting for approximately 37% of the gender wage gap, while childcare arrangements for minor children explain about 15% of the gender wage gap.

By examining the childcare arrangements for minor children of P multinational company's Chinese industrial chain workers and their impact on workers' wages, this study reveals that the gendered division of care within the family is an important factor leading to the gender wage gap among workers. This finding extends and complements previous literature on maternal penalty. Based on the research findings, this paper proposes the following policy recommendations: society and enterprises should improve the construction of care support systems to alleviate the negative impact of caregiving on female workers and promote gender equality in the labor market.