DataSheet1_The relationship between school districts and parental commuting behavior: Analysis of gender differences in the Chinese context.docx

The distribution of school districts would largely influence people’s commuting distance, but this association is hardly examined. This study applies the 2015 Xiamen household travel survey to investigate the associations between the school district and parental commuting behavior. The results showed that school districts mainly affect the parents’ commuting distance when the interaction effects between gender and commuting distance are considered. Specifically, the school district is positively associated with commuting distances for males, whereas the opposite trend is observed for females. Then, variations exist in the effects of the school district on parental commuting distance between respondents with different levels of education. The school district quality is positively associated with the commuting distance for respondents without college degrees, especially male respondents, whereas no significant association was found for more respondents with college degrees. Male respondents, especially those without college degrees, suffer higher costs and longer commuting distances than their female counterparts. This study highlights that urban planners and policy makers should consider the impact of school districts and rethink the most effective distribution of high-quality primary schools to reduce socio-spatial inequality (e.g., disadvantage of males in commuting).

学区（school district）布局在很大程度上会影响居民的通勤距离，但二者之间的关联却鲜有研究予以考察。本研究采用2015年厦门市家庭出行调查（household travel survey）数据，探究学区与家长通勤行为之间的关联。研究结果显示，在纳入性别与通勤距离的交互效应后，学区对家长通勤距离的影响尤为显著。具体而言，学区与男性家长的通勤距离呈正相关，而女性家长则呈现相反的关联趋势。此外，学区对家长通勤距离的影响还因受访者的受教育程度不同而存在异质性。对于未获得大学学历的受访者（尤其是男性受访者）而言，学区质量与其通勤距离呈正相关；而对于拥有大学及以上学历的受访者，则未发现显著关联。男性受访者（尤其是未获得大学学历的男性）相较于女性受访者，承担了更高的通勤成本与更长的通勤距离。本研究强调，城市规划者与政策制定者应重视学区布局的影响，重新考量优质小学的最优配置方案，以降低社会空间不平等问题（例如男性在通勤方面的劣势）。