Gender Equity in China Economic Transformation

Transcription

Gender Equality
in China's
Economic
Transformation
October 2014
United Nations System
in China
by Bohong Liu China Women’s University
Ling Li National School of Development,
C
hunyu Yang National School of Development,
Peking University
Peking University
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not
imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations System in China
concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning
the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The presentation of data and information as contained in this work, and the opinions expressed
therein, do not necessarily reflect the position of the United Nations System in China.
Published by the United Nations System in China © 2015
All rights reserved
Gender Equality in China's
Economic Transformation
Preface
In July of 2012, the UN System in China convened a seminar on “Rethinking
the Equity-Efficiency Relationship: Challenges Ahead”. That seminar focused
on urgent and emerging challenges of growing disparities and inequalities in
contemporary China. While China has rapidly transformed into a vibrant and
dynamic middle income country, major gaps exist between urban and rural
areas, between men and women, and between the wealthier East Coast and
the poorer Western and Central regions. Then, in December 2013, the UN
System in China launched an “Equity in China” paper as the first of a series
of UN publications designed to explore concepts of equity in contemporary
China and policies towards closing the gaps.
This paper, “Gender Equality in China’s Economic Transition” with its focus
on women and employment during the market transition, is one of the series
of thematic papers addressing equity issues in China. Chinese women’s labor
force participation rate has declined since the market-oriented economic
reform. It has dropped by a large margin, especially after the privatization
of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s. Written by experts Liu Bohong, Li
Ling and Yang Chunyu, this paper analyzes the status and implications of
gender inequality during China’s economic transformation through a careful
examination of three areas: employment opportunities, income and unpaid
labor. From a gender perspective, it makes valuable policy recommendations
to promote gender equality for China’s future economic and social
development.
Women’s rights are human rights. The protection of women’s rights are an
obligation and responsibility of the government. Gender equality and the
empowerment of women is a goal deeply embedded in the UN System.
We believe establishing gender equality in Chinese society is not only
vital for China’s harmonious and stable development, but also for China’s
commitment to the international community, for its rise on the global stage,
and its growing global leadership.
Julia Broussard
Country Programme Manager
UN Women China Office
03
Executive Summary
1. Objectives and Method
Every country pursues economic growth and development. Since the end of the last century, the
concept of development transformed from a pure pursuit of GDP to sustainable development aimed
at improving people’s overall well-being. Yet, after decades of economic development, inequality once
again has caught the public’s attention both in developed countries and developing countries. Although
the overall proportion of the population in poverty has declined, the gap between the rich and the poor
has become wider in both the North and the South. Emerging social conflict, driven by inequality, limits
economic growth and social prosperity, and hinders the realization of the ultimate goal of development—
the improvement of people’s well-being. As a result, the pursuit of social justice and the elimination
of inequality have become the common understanding in the global community when evaluating the
implementation of UN’s “Millennium Development Goals” (hereafter referred to as MDG) and discussing
the “Post-2015 Development Agenda.”
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted by
the UN in 1979, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at UN’s fourth World Conference
on Women in 1995 and the MDG set by the UN in 2000 have greatly promoted women’s rights and
their status for more than three decades. Significant global progress around gender equality has been
made in areas such as education, reproductive rates, average life expectancy, labor force participation
rates, enlargement of legal rights and so on. Yet, in other areas progress comes at a much slower pace,
such as disproportionate mortality of women/girls, gender polarization of economic activities, income
gaps, division of household labor and family care, property rights, women’s voices and initiatives in
both public and private sectors (World Bank, 2012). Global economic growth and women’s increased
access to education and economic opportunities have not led to proportionately equivalent development
outcomes for women. Gender inequality is exacerbated by the intersectionality with other axes including
poverty, class, stratum, race, ethnicity, religious belief, physical disability, marriage status, age, sexual
orientation, social identity and so on. Women with multiple disadvantages are even more marginalized
in the development process. Therefore, this research focuses on gender equality and development when
discussing the “Post-2015 Development Agenda.”
Since undertaking market-oriented economic reform, China experienced the transformation from a
planned economy to a market economy, from an agricultural society to an industrial society. China’s
economic reform process led to rapid and continuous economic growth. Personal income and living
standards were raised, bringing women unprecedented development opportunities. However, at the
same time that a market economy has brought reform and economic growth, it also exacerbated social
polarization and the gap between rich and poor. Women are placed in a disadvantaged position in the
market economy because of traditional social division of labor and their dual burden of work and family.
04
This paper mainly covers gender issues in the labor market. We describe and analyze the status of gender
inequality during China’s economic transformation and the causes of gender disparity and inequality, by
focusing on three selected areas: employment opportunities, income and unpaid labor. We explore the
possible implications of gender inequality in China on economic and social development, and make policy
recommendations to China’s future economic and social development from a gender perspective.
This article analyzes and discusses existing research literature and data from a gender perspective.
2. Main Findings
(1) Significant Gender Disparities in Employment Opportunities
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese government regarded the increase of
women’s labor force participation as an important measure of gender equality and the improvement of
women’s status. As a result, the Chinese women’s labor force participation rate was higher than that
of most other countries at the time (United Nations, 2000). Yet, since the market-oriented economic
reform, Chinese women’s labor force participation rate has declined. Especially after the privatization
of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, the women’s labor force participation rate dropped by a large
margin, and the labor force participation rate of mothers with pre-school age children dropped even
further (Li, et al., 1999; Yao and Tan, 2005). Data from the fifth and sixth National Population Census
show that although the labor force participation rates of both men and women are declining, women’s
labor force participation rate is declining with a faster pace. Women have far fewer job opportunities than
men in the labor market.
Many factors contribute to the decline of the female labor force participation rate in China. First, it is
influenced by state policies and social environment. Second, it is influenced by the income gap between
husband and wife. Third, housework and family care also contribute to decline of women’s labor force
participation. Fourth, the women’s labor force participation rate is largely influenced by women’s
educational attainment.
(2) Expanding Gender Disparities in Income
Income is an important measure of outcome equality, for both the outcome of education and
employment. It is an embodiment of labor value and social justice. In the era of planned economy, the
work allocation of all workers was decided via the national plan. Men and women enjoyed relatively equal
employment opportunities. The gender gap in payment was small. The economic reform which began in
1978 gave increasing autonomy in management to companies and other employers, who had the right to
decide the type of work and wage payment of their employees. Since then, the wage disparities between
men and women began to emerge.
According to data from three national surveys of women’s social status in China, the gender disparity in
income in the labor market has been expanding from 1990 to 2010. The average income of urban women
05
as a percentage of that of men dropped from 77.5 percent in 1990 to 67.3 percent in 2010, which was
a drop of roughly 10 percentage points. The increase in income disparity in rural areas has been even
greater than that in urban areas. The average income of rural working women was 79 percent of that of
men in 1990. This number plummeted to 56 percent in 2010, which meant that the average income of
rural women was only a bit more than half of the income of rural men.
A gender gap in wage payment may result from either competence differences or discrimination. One
important indicator of competency is educational attainment. The gender gap in educational attainment
has been gradually narrowed since the market-oriented economic reform. Thirty years from 1980 to
2010, the share of female college students has risen from 23.4 percent to 50.8 percent (An, 2011). The
proportion of female college students has surpassed that of male college students. Apart from the low
enrollment rate of rural women, Chinese urban women have generally gained equal access to education
at all levels. However, the narrowed gender gap in educational opportunity has not decreased the gender
gap in income. One study found that discrimination within occupations contributed as much as 68
percent of the gender gap in wage payment (Li and Ma, 2006). An increase in educational attainment
has led to growth in men’s and women’s income in China, but it has not resulted in a narrower income
gap between men and women.
(3) Unrecognized Value of Women’s Unpaid Care Work
After the founding of the PRC, families in China have evolved from the kinship tie centered, a patriarchal
and male dominated pattern in an agriculture society, to the modern nuclear family pattern where the
husband and the wife share equal rights inside the family (Ding, 2001). Gender equality advocated by
the government has promoted equal participation of urban women in social production and activities, to
a large extent. Although traditional gender stereotypes still applied, the social welfare policies and public
services provided by the government through the work units largely offset the dual burden of work and
family bore by Chinese urban women (Liu et al., 2008). After the market-oriented economic reform,
these public services were taken over by the market and families. When the public services provided by
the market can no longer meet the needs of families and when families can no longer afford family care
services, the responsibilities of family care fall back on women’s shoulders.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics time-use survey shows that women spend almost three times
as much time as men on unpaid work every week. This phenomenon is more prominent in rural areas.
Women—especially rural women—perform most of the unpaid work. Women are burdened both with
unpaid work and paid work, which means they have much longer working hours and much less spare
time each day than men (Dong and An, 2012).
In reality, unpaid care work has great economic value. According to Dong and An’s (2012) analysis
of the time-use survey data in China in 2008, the value created by unpaid care work was equal to 25
percent to 32 percent of China’s GDP, 52 percent to 66 percent of China’s consumption, and 63 percent
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to 80 percent of China’s gross output value. However, the value of women’s unpaid housework and
their contribution to the family and to the society is not recognized in the market economy. Instead, it
hinders women from entering the labor market. Changes in economic and public policies in the past three
decades of market-oriented reform has accelerated the marginalization of women in the labor market and
exacerbated gender inequality.
3. Discussion and Policy Recommendation
Drastic social transformation in China has far-reaching consequences for gender disparity and social
inequality. First, these changes affect economic development. Gender inequality has a negative effect
on labor force participation and human resource utilization. It hurts the labor force participation rate
and economic benefits. Second, social development is affected. Gender inequality causes a loss to
human development. The loss of human development caused by gender inequality in China is as high
as 40 percent (UNDP, 2010). Third, families are affected. Gender disparity in the labor market and the
underestimation of unpaid care work worsen gender inequality within families. Women’s role inside the
family is strengthened and accompanied with their deteriorating family status and increasing dependency
on men. Fourth, education of children and future generations are affected. Gender inequality would
influence the views and capacities of the next generation thus dampening human capital in the society in
the long run. The reproduction of the culture of gender inequality is harmful and contrary to the socialist
core values promoted by the Chinese Communist Party.
Thus, this study proposes the following recommendations. First, equality and justice shall be considered
an important goal of the global agenda, as well as China’s economic and social development.
Second, gender equality shall be mainstreamed into China’s macroeconomic and social development
policymaking. Third, interventions in the labor market shall be enhanced to eliminate gender
discrimination in employment and occupation. Fourth, the principle of equal pay for work of equal value
shall be insisted and the reform of China’s income distribution system shall be accelerated. Fifth, the value
of unpaid work shall be recognized and family care services shall be integrated into the public service
system. Sixth, the reform of the political system shall be strengthened to promote women’s participation
in administration and policymaking. And finally, gender equality and human rights education shall be
included in China’s cultural development.
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I. Introduction
Economic growth and development are common goals for all countries. At the end of the 20th century, the
concept of development transformed from a pure pursuit of GDP to sustainable development aimed at improving
people’s overall well-being. Development is no longer only about earning higher income. It also includes “better
education, better health and nutritional standards, less poverty, cleaner environment, more equal opportunities,
more individual freedom, richer cultural life, etc.” (World Bank, 1991). The means of development is GDP growth,
but the goal of development is to offer people more options so that all people—both men and women—have
equal opportunities to benefit from progress (UNDP, 1995). Yet, after decades of economic development,
inequality once again has caught the public’s attention both in developed and developing countries. Although the
overall proportion of the population in poverty has declined, the gap between the rich and the poor has become
wider in both the North and the South. Emerging social conflicts, driven by inequality, limits economic growth and
social prosperity, and hinders the realization of the ultimate goal of development—the improvement of people’s
well-being. As a result, the pursuit of social justice and the elimination of inequality have become the common
understanding in the global community when evaluating the implementation of UN’s “Millennium Development
Goals” (hereafter referred to as MDG) and discussing the “Post-2015 Development Agenda.”
Gender equality represents not only a central development goal, but policies supporting gender equality
also serve as a key development tool. According to Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, “development” can be
conceptualized as a process during which every member of the society equally expand a set of linked freedoms
such as political freedom, freedom of opportunities, and economic protection (Sen, 1999). Positioning gender
equality under the broader objective of “development” is consistent with the core development goals delineated
in the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit.
As a key development tool, gender equality is a prerequisite for inclusive and sustainable development. First,
structural barriers to women’s education and economic opportunities slow national productivity and create
higher economic costs (World Bank, 2012). Research in Latin America and the Caribbean found that a 6 percent
increase in gross domestic product could be achieved by eliminating gender-based payment inequality and
occupational segregation (Tzannatos, 1999). Other scholars, using model estimation, demonstrated that gender
inequality in labor force participation lead to higher fertility rates which further slowdown the economic growth
rate. For certain Asian developing countries, promoting gender equality could stimulate their domestic demands
and balance their economic growth. Limited opportunities for women to participate in the labor market led to
an economic loss as high as 42 to 47 billion dollars per year in the Asian-Pacific region; gender inequality in
education led to a 16 to 30 billion dollar loss per year in the same region (United Nation, 2007); the increase rate
of per capita income in the region decreased by 0.1 to 0.3 percent due to failure to accomplish Goal No.3 of the
MDG (UNDESA, 2011). Second, efforts to enhance women’s absolute and relative statuses contribute to other
important areas of development, including a better future for their offspring (World Bank, 2012). Higher rates
of employment and higher income have been shown to strengthen women’s bargaining power within the family
(Thomas, 1997; King and Mason, 2001). Research has demonstrated that one outcome of women’s greater
bargaining power was a concomitant increase in household savings (Seguino and Floro, 2003), which can be
08
applied to children’s health and education. Greater family investment in children, buttressed by women’s greater
economic power, leads to gains in human capital and economic growth, including through future generations
(Thomas, 1997; King and Mason, 2001). Using China as an example, Qian (2008) found that every 10 percent
increase in an adult woman’s income leads to a 1 percent increase in the survival rate of girls in her family,
as well as an increase of schooling time for male and female children. By contrast, when the man’s income
increased by 10 percent, daughters’ survival rate and schooling time both decreased, while sons’ schooling
time and mortality were unaffected. Finally, structural gains by women can empower women to push for more
favorable policies, which also lead to better development outcomes (World Bank, 2012). For example, after
securing the right to vote, women in the United States leveraged their new electoral power to politicize issues
like child and maternal healthcare, leading to an 8 to 15 percent decline in the infant mortality rate (Miller, 2008).
Further, policies promoting women’s political participation lead to increased investment in infrastructures that
benefit women, such as those that improve human capital and save time, which also contributes to economic
growth (Chattopadhyay and Duflo, 2003; King and Mason, 2001). Taken together, these findings demonstrate
that the elimination of gender discrimination, and the promotion of gender equality can empower women,
promote economic development, and continue social progress.
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted by the UN in
1979, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the UN’s fourth World Conference on Women in
1995 and the MDG set by the UN in 2000 have greatly promoted women’s rights and their status for more than
three decades. Significant global progress around gender equality has been made in areas such as education,
reproductive rates, average life expectancy, labor force participation rates, enlargement of legal rights, and so
on. Yet, in other areas progress comes at a much slower pace, such as disproportionate mortality of women and
girls, gender polarization of economic activities, income gaps, gendered division of household labor and family
care, unequal access to property rights, and lack of women’s voices and initiatives in both public and private
sectors (World Bank, 2012). Global economic growth and women’s increased access to education and economic
opportunities have not led to proportionately equivalent development outcomes for women. Gender inequality
is exacerbated by the intersectionality with other axes including poverty, class, stratum, race, ethnicity, religious
belief, physical disability, marriage status, age, sexual orientation, social identity and so on. Women with multiple
disadvantages are even more marginalized in the development process. Therefore, this research focuses on
gender equality and development when discussing “Post-2015 Development Agenda.”
“Gender” hereafter referred in this paper is defined as women’s and men’s social, behavioral and cultural
characteristics, expectations and norms. “Gender equality” in this paper is defined as a situation when all
persons, regardless their gender, shall be able to develop their capabilities and make their choices free from
any stereotype, gender perceptions, or gender discrimination. Gender equality does not necessarily mean
that women have to become exactly the same as men. Rather, it means a person’s rights, responsibilities
and opportunities shall not be determined by whether he or she was born male or female. What we will focus
on here is “substantive equality” or equality of outcomes. Substantive equality encompasses not only equal
opportunities, equal processes, equal rules and equal laws, but also equal outcomes or equal reality. From a
gender perspective, this article not only focuses on the progress women have obtained through development, but
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also pays special attention to progress women have gained relative to men, as well as the remaining challenges
they are facing during development. Over 30 years of development in China and the world has proven that
equal opportunities and equal outcomes have distinctively different implications on development, especially on
social justice, and that equal opportunities do not necessarily lead to equal outcomes. Only by realizing equal
outcomes can we correct influences from the unjust factors during the development process.1
The socialist revolution and development in China led to the emancipation of Chinese women. After the founding
of the People’s Republic of China, gender equality became China’s mainstream ideology and legal principle.
Chinese women decisively broke away from feudalist shackles, walked out of their homes and made significant
contributions to China’s social and economic development. Chinese women have seen their status undergo
unprecedented changes as women became the owners of this socialist country. In the era of planned economy,
China applied a dual urban-rural system. Under such a system, in the cities2, almost all the employed workers,
both men and women, had equal access to lifetime employment insurance, child care, education, healthcare
and housing subsidies, as well as the pension scheme offered by the nation through their work units (danwei).
Work units also provided childcare services to their employees, which greatly reduced the opportunity cost of
women participating in labor, the negative pressure from the society, and the cost of early-stage education
and care for children. Through these mechanisms and policies, China, a low-income country, made remarkable
achievements in gender equality, primary education coverage, public health, and labor force participation (Li and
Li, 2010). “Women can hold up half of the sky” became a catchphrase showcasing Chinese women’s liberation
and improvement in their social status, which has been commended around the world. But it is worth pointing out
1.
Gender equity is a concept well-received internationally. Justice is usually defined from the fairness perspective, where people are
expected to be treated equal under the same circumstances. In the gender theory framework, feminists point out that, treating people
in disadvantaged gender positions the same as those in advantaged gender positions usually intensify the marginalization of the
disadvantaged population. If such equal treatment leads to substantive different impacts, without sufficient evidence proving its necessity,
then it is recognized as indirect discrimination. The general recommendation No. 28 of the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) mentions both direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. It suggests that treating
the same people differently and treating different people the same would lead to injustice or discrimination. CEDAW recommends to
use the equal access to human rights as the foundation of justice. Based on this definition, ILO defines gender equity, that is: fairness of
treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different but
considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities. Gender equity serves as a tool to achieve gender equality.
In the discussion of this paper, justice should be understood as different ways of measuring development as mentioned in MDG and
values attached to such measurements. The discussants recognized the economic growth and decrease of population in poverty with the
implementation of the MDG, but also pointed out the expansion of wealth gap and social injustice in development accompanied with the
progress. As an example, China not only has a leading role in economic growth, but also owns one of largest wealth gaps in the world. For
decades, the relationship between efficiency and fairness has been a hot topic in the discussion of goals and values of social development.
There has been a positive change from the “efficiency first and fairness in consideration” view to the “fairness and justice is the starting
point and ultimate goal of reform and development” view. However, the male breadwinner model is still considered a fair and reasonable
social division of labor and the foundation of policymaking when people design top and institutional level social policies. Using a gender
perspective, this paper try to analyze how such a model lead to the expansion of gender inequality in Chinese economy, and how it brings
inequality, unjust and unfairness to the society.
2.
In rural areas, especially during the period of the Great Leap Forward, the People’s commune helped workers by providing socialized
services, such as building canteens, nurseries, kindergartens, nursing homes, etc. But the Great Chinese Famine ensued, and changed
the status of the socialization of housework. As a result, only some nurseries and nursing homes were kept, and childrearing, old-age
provision and daily chores went back to the hand of every household.
10
that “formal equality3” with the criteria based on men’s work values is different from the “substantive equality4”
that people promote nowadays.
Since undertaking market-oriented economic reform, China experienced the transformation from a planned
economy to a market economy, from an agricultural society to an industrial society5. China’s economic reform
process led to rapid and continuous economic growth. Personal income and living standards were raised,
bringing women unprecedented development opportunities. Gender equality became one of the basic state
policies for social development, and was included into the Report to the Eighteenth National Congress of the
Communist Party of China (2012) and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and
Interests of Women (2005). The government incorporated the development of women and girls into the “Five
Year Plan for Economic and Social Development”, and through promulgating and implementing The Program
for the Development of Women in China, National Human Rights Action Plan of China and other regulations,
the government honored its commitment to the international community to lift women’s status in political,
economic, social, and cultural areas, as well as in citizenship, marriages and households. However, a market
economy is a double-edged sword. At the same time that a market economy brought reform and economic
growth, it also exacerbated social polarization and the gap between the rich and the poor. Women are placed
in a disadvantaged position in the market economy because of traditional social division of labor and their dual
burden of work and family responsibilities. Despite increased opportunities for women’s economic advancement,
the development gap between men and women still widened. According to the UN’s Human Development Report,
from 1992 to 2009, the Human Development Indicator (HDI)6 in China increased significantly; however, the
Gender Development Indicator (GDI)7 in China did not increase in the same magnitude with China’s economic
and social development; the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)8 in China dropped considerably instead
of increasing, shown in Table 1 (Liu et al., 2010). This suggests that the market does not allocate resources
equally and justly, as might be assumed and that economic growth does not guarantee equal and just outcomes.
Instead, the development of a market economy may come at the expense of social equality and justice. It is
incumbent upon us to find a development path that can realize gender equality and social justice in a market
3.
Formal equality indicates achieving gender equality by setting the equality standard based on male’s characters and male’s behaviors.
Such kind of equality only recognizes the value of social development while neglects the family values and responsibilities, and fails to
challenge the traditional gender roles. Women are hurt or under pressure when working under the male character based standards.
4.
Substantive equality (equality of outcome) refers to outcome equality or factual equality. It recognizes the biological, social and cultural
differences between men and women, and emphasizes the achievement of gender equality through actively providing women with
favorable circumstances and supportive environments. It requires equal opportunities, procedures and outcomes in all forms of laws,
policies, programs and other action plans.
5.
China’s economic reform refers to China’s transition from a planned to a market-oriented economy since 1978. China has changed from
an agricultural, rural and traditional society to an industrial, urbanized, and open modern society. This transition has accelerated China’s
economic growth, while at the same time intensified China’s social segregation, including the urban rural divide, widening wealth gap,
increasing gender inequality, and occupational segregation.
6.
HDI is an indicator of UN for social progress. It includes three aspects: life expectancy, educational attainment and GDP. It emphasizes
that all members of society equally participate in development and equally share the fruits of development.
7.
GDI is a development indicator related to gender. It measures the basic capacity and achievement as HDI does, but focuses on the
inequality of achievements of men and women. The greater the gender disparity in basic capacity, the lower a country’s GDI is compared
with its HDI.
8.
GEM also measures gender equality. It focuses on whether women and men can actively engage in economic and political life and
policymaking. The greater the gender disparity in engagement, the lower GEM is.
11
economy when discussing the “Post 2015 Development Agenda.”
Table 1 Comparison of Ranking of HDI and GDI in China9
Year1992-19941999 200020012002 20032004200520062007/20082009
HDI 111 87 9610494 88 81 8181 81 92
GDI 71 76 778371 64647364 73 75
GEM
23
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
57
N/A
57
72
The current situation of gender inequality in China, influential factors leading to this inequality, and its possible
social impacts are closely related to institutional changes in the political and economic systems of the country.
Since the market-oriented economic reforms, mainstream economists in China had been focusing solely on
GDP growth without examining China’s economic mechanism from a gender perspective. China lags behind
the international community in research on gender and macro economy, as well as gender and development.
Gender has remained a blind spot in China’s macroeconomic policy-making. Young female economists10 in
China have taken the historical responsibility of mainstreaming the study of gender in the field of economics.
They have explored gender-related economic theories and empirical research from the aspects of labor
supply, unemployment, occupational mobility, salary, labor migration, informal employment, allocation of family
resources, care provision, time allocation, and provided solid basis for the reform and improvement of China’s
macroeconomic policies. By drawing on existing literature and available statistics on gender and development,
this paper attempts to analyze the major issues in China’s economic development from a gender perspective.
Due to space limitations, this article mainly covers gender issues in the labor market. In Part II, we describe
and analyze the status of gender inequality during China’s economic transformation and the causes of
gender disparity and inequality, by focusing on three selected areas: employment opportunities, income and
unpaid labor. In Part III, we explore the possible implications of gender inequality in China on economic and
social development. In the last part we make policy recommendations for China’s future economic and social
development from a gender perspective.
9.
Source: UN’s Human Development Report. The UNDP modified GDI after 2010, so the comparison ended at 2009.
10.
China Female Economists’ Network was established in 2002. It contains young female economists from colleges and universities in
mainland China. Its representative works include: Zhang Liqin, Du Fenglian and Dong Xiaoyuan, ed., 2012. Gender and Development:
Empirical Research Methods, Beijing: China Social Sciences Publishing House; Dong Xiaoyuan and Sarah Cook, ed., 2010. Gender
Equality and China’s Economic Transformation: Informal Employment and Care Provision, Beijing: Economic Science Press; Günseli
Berik, Dong Xiaoyuan, and Gale Summerfield, ed., 2009. China’s Transition and Feminist Economics, Beijing: Economic Science Press.
12
II. Gender Equality during China’s Economic Transformation
1. Gender Disparity in Employment Opportunities
Equal employment opportunity means “equal opportunities in applying for a specific job, obtaining the job and
receiving related education or occupational training, and equal opportunities to receive certain job qualifications,
be recognized as employees and promotion (International Labor Office, 2001)”, including labor supply (for
example, the total number of working age population, labor force participation rate, number of hours worked,
etc.), unemployment, and occupational mobility, among others. The discussion of employment opportunity in this
part concentrates on the labor force participation rate and occupational structure. According to the Fourth, Fifth,
and Sixth National Population Census, the total number of men and women participating in the labor market
has increased continuously along with China’s economic growth and urbanization11. However, the labor force
participation rates for both men and women are decreasing, with women at an even faster pace. Women have
been marginalized in the occupational structure: compared to their male counterparts, they are less likely to
work at the administrative level and more likely to concentrate in lower-level jobs.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese government has regarded the increase
of women’s labor force participation as an important measure of gender equality and the improvement of
women’s status. As a result, the Chinese women’s labor force participation rate was higher than that of
most other countries at the time (United Nations, 2000). Yet, since the market-oriented economic reform, the
Chinese women’s labor force participation rate has declined. Especially after the privatization of state-owned
enterprises in the 1990s, the women’s labor force participation rate dropped by a large margin, and the labor
force participation rate of mothers with pre-school age children dropped even further (Li et al., 1999; Yao and
Tan, 2005)12. According to the working-age population data from the Fifth National Population Census in 2000,
the labor force participation rate was 82.5 percent for Chinese men, and 71.5 percent for Chinese women. In the
Sixth National Population Census in 2010, the numbers are 78.2 percent and 63.7 percent for men and women,
respectively. As is shown in Chart 1, the gap between the labor force participation rates of men and women
was 11 percentage points in 2000, and it grew to 14.5 percentage points in 2010. Although the labor force
participation rates of both men and women are declining, women’s labor force participation rate is declining at a
higher speed. The decline in labor force participation is not always negative: the improvement of productivity due
to technological advancement, and the decline of labor force participation due to income increase represent
11
In the Fourth National Population Census (1990), China has 647,244,706 people in the labor force, where 291,014,453 (45.0 percent)
of them are women. (Source: Fourth National Population Census, from Gender Statistics in China: 1990-1995, 1998, China Statistical
Publishing House: 322.); In the Fifth National Population Census (2000), China has 699,480,000 people in the labor force, where
316,880,000 (45.3 percent) of them are women. (Source: Fifth National Population Census, from Women and Men in China, 2004,
China Statistical Publishing House: 42.); In the Sixth National Population Census (2010), China has 761,050,000 people in the labor
force, where 350,080,000 (46.0 percent) of them are women. (Source: China Statistical Yearbook 2011, cited from Women and Children
Statistics in China, edited by the Department of Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China.
2011: 40. Unpublished source.) The absolute number of men and women in the labor force increases from 1990 to 2010.
12
According to data on state-owned enterprises employees in the second national survey of women’s social status, female laid-off workers
previously employed in the state-owned enterprises reported a shared difficulty of re-employment. 49.7 percent of them faced age and
gender based discrimination in re-employment, which was 18.9 percent higher than that of their male counterparts. (Source: Women’s
Research Group, All-China Women’s Federation, Women’s Status in China’s Social Transition, 2006: 875.)
13
social development. However, in 2010, 27 percent of Chinese women who dropped out of the labor force
reported their reason as “taking care of families”, compared with 2 percent of unemployment men reporting the
same reason13. Limited by a gendered division of labor, women have far fewer job opportunities than men.
100
90
80
82.5
71.5
78.2
63.7
70
60
％ 50
■ Men
40
■ Women
30
20
10
0
2000
2010
Chart 1 Labor Participation Rates by Gender, 2000 and 201014
Gender disparity is also pronounced in occupational structures. According to the national population census in
2010 (see Chart 2), 48.3 percent of the working population were employed in the primary industry. 24.2 percent
of them were employed in the secondary industry, and 27.5 percent of them were employed in the tertiary
industry. 53.2 percent of women, that is, over half of the female labor force, were in the primary (agricultural)
industry. This number is higher than the average (48.3 percent) employment rate in agriculture and is almost
9 percentage points higher than the percentage of men working in agriculture (44.4 percent). In addition, men
migrated to the urban areas earlier and in a faster speed than women. Compared with 28.1 percent of working
men employed in the secondary industry, only 19.3 percent of working women were employed in the same
sector. The total percentages of men and women in the tertiary industry were about the same; however, women
were more likely to be involved in the traditional service while men were more likely to participate in the modern
service.
13
Source: 2010 Population Census of People’s Republic of China, cited from Women and Men in China: Facts and Data 2012, 2012, edited
by the Department of Social, Science, Technology and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Beijing: Pp. 49.
14
Source: The Fifth Population Census of People’s Republic of China (2000) and the Sixth Population Census of People’s Republic of
China (2010).
14
100％
90％
80％
27.5
27.5
24.2
19.3
27.5
70％
60％
28.1
■ Tertiary Industry
50％
■ Secondary Industry
40％
■ Primary Industry
30％
20％
48.3
53.2
44.4
Total
Women
Men
10％
0％
Chart 2 Gender Composition of the Three Industries in 201015
According to the Annual Statistical Report of Wages in 2011 (see Chart 3), the gender composition of
occupations in the urban areas shows that the percentages of men and women employed in different
occupations vary greatly. Women were concentrated in jobs that represent the social extension of their family
roles, such as healthcare, lodging, education, and culture, or those that do not require a lot of physical labor, like
finance, wholesale, and service. By contrast, in areas like construction, mining, transportation and power supply,
which had been traditionally dominated by men, the proportion of female employees was significantly lower.
Certain occupations were closed to female employees due to safety reasons. Compared with men, women had
far fewer job opportunities that could bring occupational prestige and higher income in the labor market.
15
Source: 2010 Population Census of People’s Republic of China, cited from Women and Men in China: Facts and Data 2012, 2012, edited
by the Department of Social, Science, Technology and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Beijing: Pp. 38.
15
63.7
Total
36.3
88.0
Construction
12.0
81.0
Mining
19.0
73.1
Transportation
26.9
Power
71.4
28.6
Public Administration
71.0
29.0
Scientific Research
69.8
30.2
Lease
68.1
31.9
65.4
Real Estate
34.6
63.1
Agriculture
36.9
Manufacturing
60.5
39.5
Information
60.1
39.9
Water Conservancy
59.0
41.0
Culture
57.5
42.5
Service
57.2
42.8
52.3
Wholesale
49.3
50.7
Finance
49.2
50.8
45.8
Health
54.2
39.4
0%
20%
■ Female
47.7
Education
Lodging
■ Male
60.6
40%
60%
80%
100%
Chart 3 Gender Composition of Occupations in the Urban Areas, 201116
Differences in job opportunities in the formal and informal employment is another example17. Labor statistics
in China tend to treat employment in the urban areas as formal employment. As shown in Chart 4, women
comprised a smaller share of the population employed in the urban areas. Not only is women’s share far
smaller than that of men, it is also declining yearly: it declined by nearly 2 percentage points between 2000 and
16
Source: Annual Statistical Report of Wages in 2011, cited from Women and Men in China: Facts and Data 2012, 2012, edited by the
Department of Social, Science, Technology and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Beijing: Pp. 44.
17
Different from formal employment, informal employment refers to “economic activities outside the institutionalized economic structure”
(ILO). Informal employment is volatile and nonstandard in income, working hour, labor relation, working condition, social security and
business activities. In the process of industrialization and urbanization, migrant workers, laid-off workers, women, and other low-skill
workers are predominantly informally employed.
16
2010, from 38.0 percent to 36.3 percent. In clear contrast is the rise of women’s participation in the informal
employment. Calculations based on the 1 percent population sample survey in 2005 (Xue and Gao, 2012)
showed that 42.39 percent of women were engaged in informal employment. Gender-based occupational
segregation exists even within informal employment. Female workers in the informal sector were mostly
commercial and service staff, whereas male workers in the informal sector were mostly technicians and
managers. This reflects the marginalization of female workers in the informal employment sector (Ren and Peng,
Percentage
2007).
■ Men
■ Women
36.3
37.2
37.2
37.6
37.8
38.0
37.9
38.1
37.9
37.8
37.8
38.0
100％
90％
80％
70％
60％
50％
40％
30％
20％
10％
0％
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Year
Chart 4 Gender Composition of Population Employed in the Urban Areas18
Many factors contribute to the current female labor force participation rate in China. First, the women’s labor
participation rate is influenced by state polices and social environment. The market-oriented reform in China has
undermined the state’s protection and support for women in the labor market. The emphasis of efficacy rather
than fairness in the market without necessary regulations from the state, together with lack of governmental
support in job protection and social welfare, lead to the discrimination against women in the labor market and
gender-based occupational segregation, particularly the decline in women’s labor force participation. It also
leads to the return of the traditional gender role—“men work outside as the breadwinner and women stay
at home to take care of the family.” Second, married women’s labor force participation is influenced by the
income gap between husband and wife. Empirical studies in China showed that when the potential income
gap between husband and wife widened, the one with the higher income would stay employed in the market
whereas the one with lower income would engage in household production. Research has found that since
the 1990s, the decline in women’s labor force participation in the urban areas occurred primarily among lowincome families (Dong et al., 2009). When women’s average wage income in the market is lower than that
of men, it appears that men tend to work outside and women tend to stay at home (Li et al., 1999). Third, the
women’s labor force participation rate is also influenced by housework and family care. When the government
and employers withdrew from the responsibilities of social welfare and care provision, and when family affairs
18
Source: China Labor Statistical Yearbook, cited from Women and Men in China: Facts and Data 2012, 2012, edited by the Department of
Social, Science and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Beijing: Pp. 42.
17
became a private matter, the accessibility and price of childcare resources, in addition to wage income, affect
many mothers’ decisions of participating in the labor force. Income level in the labor market, accessibility of
childcare resources, and family structure tend to impact women’s labor force participation more than that of
men (Du, 2008). During the 1990s, subsidies for nurseries and kindergartens were slashed in the privatization
of state-owned enterprises. Nursery services were privatized, forcing many mothers of preschoolers to drop
out of the labor market, leading to a widened gender gap in labor force participation (Du and Dong, 2010). The
responsibility of child care hinders married women in the rural areas from participating in non-agriculture work
(Wang and Dong, 2010). Fourth, the women’s labor force participation rate is largely influenced by women’s
educational attainment. Among married women, those who have higher educational attainment have higher
labor force participation rates. Married women with the lowest educational attainment experienced the largest
decline of labor force participation. They are more likely to lose their jobs and have difficulties in re-employment
(Yao and Tan, 2005). Fifth, women, especially those employed in the private sectors or employed informally, are
usually forced to leave the labor market at childbearing. Most women in smaller private enterprises do not have
any welfare on maternity leave, maternity subsidy, or job guarantee after the childbirth (Liu, Guo, et al., 2011).
2. Gender Disparity in Income
Income is an important measure of outcome equality, for both the outcome of education and employment. It is
an embodiment of labor value and social justice. In this section, we study income from a gender perspective,
focusing on the income gap between men and women. In the labor market, it is common in all countries that
women’s wages are lower than men’s (Altonji, 1999). There are two measurements to quantify wage disparity.
The first one measures the difference between logarithmic wages of men and women, which reflects men’s
wages as a percentage of women’s. The second one measures women’s wages as percentage of men’s
wages (Liu, 2012). Some research shows that physical differences and gender role disparities between men and
women result in different productivity (Dong and Zhang, 2009). However, many studies argue that educational
attainment and work experience—reflected by productivity–can only explain part of the gender gap in wage
payment. The portion of the gender wage gap that cannot be explained by educational background and work
experience, is gender disparities in wage payment and is called the residual wage gap. It comes partly from
gender segregation in the labor market, and partly from wage discrimination against women in the market (Becker,
1971)19. Next, we will elaborate on the Chinese scenario as it relates to these two aspects.
n the era of a planned economy, the work allocation of all workers was decided via the national plan. Men and
women enjoyed relatively equal employment opportunities. The state had uniform administrative regulations on
wage standards and pay scales, and the employers had no discretion over employees’ payment. Therefore, the
19
As to the definition of wage discrimination, Becker (1971) argues that, if the employer gives different wages to male and female
employees with same production capacity, then there is wage discrimination. There are two explanations for why there is discrimination
in the market. The first one is Becker’s theory of taste for discrimination (Becker, 1971). Becker thinks that discrimination is a matter of
individual taste. If an individual’s preference for others’ race and gender can improve his own subjective wellbeing, then he is willing to
pay higher for that. The secondary explanation is the theory of statistical discrimination, which holds that gender discrimination is not
caused by personal taste, but the adverse selection problem due to insufficient information. The employee is discriminated against simply
because he/she belongs to a certain special group (Aigner and Glen, 1977).
18
gender gap in payment was small. The economic reforms that began in 1978, and especially the privatization
process of state-owned enterprises during the 1990s, gave increasing autonomy in management to companies
and other employers who now had the right to decide the type of work and wage payment of their employees.
Since then, the wage disparities between men and women began to emerge. Because of differences in
survey time, coverage, and sampling methods, the calculated gender gaps in payment vary from each other.
Nevertheless, as shown in Table 2, there is a significant gender gap in wage payment in China’s labor market,
and the disparity is expanding as the economic reform deepens. For example, according to Li Chunling and Li
Shi’s (2008) analysis on the Chinese Household Income Project, the annual income of women was 84.0 percent
of that of men in 1988. This number declined to 80.0 percent in 1995, and 79.0 percent in 2002. Women’s
annual income as a percentage of men’s steadily declined during these 14 years. According to Zhang Dandan’s
analysis with CHNS data, the percentages of women’s annual income against men’s were 94.2 percent, 76.4
percent, and 77.5 percent in 1989, 1993, and 1997 respectively. Again, there is robust evidence that the gender
gap in wage payment has been expanding since the 1990s.
Table 2 Gender Gap in Wage Payment in Selected Literature
Time
Women/
Men（%）
Comparison
Indicator
Source
1978.7
79.1
Monthly Wage
China Statistics Press, Chinese Women’s Statistics
1986.7
82.3
Monthly Wage
1988
84.4
Annual Income Gustafsson and Li, 2000
1988
55.3
Annual Wage
Margaret et al.(1997) Urban Survey 1988-1994
1988
73.0
Monthly Wage
Rozelle et al.(2002) Rural Survey in 8 Provinces in 1996
1988.7
84.5
Monthly Wage
1988
84.0
Annual Income Li Chunling & Li Shi（2008）Chinese Household Income Project,
Urban Data
1989
55.0
Annual Wage
1989
94.2
Hourly Wage
Zhang Dandan (2004）CHNS, Urban Data
1990
48.9
Annual Wage
1990.9
77.5
Annual IncomeAll-China Women’s Federation and National Bureau of Statistics,
The Second National Survey of Women’s Status in China
1991
76.4
Hourly Wage
1991
50.1
Annual Wage
1992
85.9
1992
46.8
1993
1993
Monthly Income Hughes and Margaret, 2002 Survey on Employment in 12 Provinces
Annual Wage
82.9
Hourly Wage
47.1
Annual Wage
1994
41.8
Annual Wage
1995
82.5
Annual Income Gustafsson and Li(2000)
1995
71.2
Monthly Wage
Rozelle et al.(2002) Rural Survey in 8 Provinces in 1996
1995
80.0
Urban Data
1997
77.5
Hourly Wage
19
1999
78.0
Annual Wage
Li Shi et al.(2006) Income Survey in 6 Provinces in 1999
2000.12
70.1
Annual Income All-China Women’s Federation and National Bureau of Statistics,
The Second National Survey of Women’s Status in China
2001
80.3
2002
80.0
2002
76.3
Hourly Wage
Wang Meiyan（2005）Survey Data of 5 Cities
Annual Income Gustafsson and Li, 2008
Hourly Wage
Yao Xianguo et al.（2008）Urban Survey Data
2002
79.0
Urban Data
2003
68.1
Annual Income Wang Tianfu et al.（2008）CGSS 2003
2004
83.0
Monthly Wage
2005
78.3
2006
80.8
Tian Yanfang et al.（2009）CHNS, Urban Data
Monthly Income Chen Wenfu（2011）CGSS 2005
Hourly Wage
Ning Guangjie（2011）CHNS Urban Data
2009
79.9
Monthly Income Han Xiulan（2012）CHNS Urban Data
2010
60.4
Monthly Income Deng Feng et al.（2012）CFPS 2010
2010
67.0 (urban) Annual Income Data from Sample Survey by the Research Group of The 3rd Survey
56.0 (rural)
on Women’s Status in China (2011)
Note: This chart is developed based on Liu Xiaoyun’s chart in “Analysis of Gender Wage Gap: Desegregation of
Average Wage Disparity” in Gender and Development: Empirical Research Methods, edited by Zhang Liqin, Du
Fenglian and Dong Xiaoyuan, 122-152. China Social Sciences Publishing House: 2012.
According to data from three national surveys of women’s social status in China, the gender disparity in income
in the labor market has been expanding from 1990 to 2010. As shown in Chart 5, the average income of urban
women as a percentage of that of men dropped from 77.5 percent in 1990 to 67.3 percent in 2010, which was
a drop of roughly 10 percentage points. The increase in income disparity in rural areas has been even greater
than that in urban areas. The average income20 of rural working women was 79 percent of that of men in 1990.
This number plummeted to 56 percent in 2010, which meant that the average income of rural women was only
a bit more than half of the income of rural men. The distribution of average income by gender in 2010 in rural
areas indicated that rural women’s lower average income could be attributed to the income structure. Women
comprised only 24.4 percent of the highest income group, while they accounted for 65.7 percent of the lowest
income group, as shown in Chart 6.
20
In the third national survey of women’s social status in China, income of rural men and women was calculated based on working hours
and performances in the labor market, plus income from property ownership. Income from property ownership refers to rent or interest
generated from ownerships or shares of houses or savings.
20
100
90
77.5 79.0
80
70.1
70
67.3
59.6
60
56.0
％ 50
■ Urban Employed Women
40
■ Rural Employed Women
30
20
10
0
1990
2000
1999
2010
Chart 5 Comparison of Average Income by Gender and Survey Years (men as 100) 21
75.6
High Income
60.8
Upper Middle Income
Low Income
0%
39.2
57.0
Middle Income
Lower Middle Income
24.4
■ Men
43.0
■ Women
47.9
52.1
34.3
20%
65.7
40%
60%
80%
100%
Chart 6 Distribution of Average Income of Men and Women in Rural Areas, 201022
The major reason behind the gender income gap is gender segregation in the labor market, which segregates
men and women by occupations and economic sectors. For example, engineers, technicians and senior
managers are predominately men, as expected by the traditional social division of labor and social norms,
21
Source: Women’s Research Group, All-China Women’s Federation, Women’s Status in China’s Social Transition, 2006: 134-143. Research
Group of The Third Survey on Women’s Status in China, “Executive Report of the Third Survey on Women’s Status in China”,
Collection of Women’s Studies, 2011 (6): 12.
22
Source: The Third National Survey of Women’s Social Status in China: 2010, cited from Women and Men in China: Facts and Data
2012, 2012, edited by the Department of Social, Science, Technology and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China,
Beijing: Pp. 54.
21
whereas secretaries and nurses are mostly women: this is occupational segregation. On the other hand,
male migrant workers are mostly in the construction sector, whereas female migrant workers are primarily
concentrated in the hair salons, housekeeping, and service businesses which compose the sectorial segregation.
Compared with men, women are often engaged in occupations and sectors that pay less. Reasons for gender
segregation can be found on both the supply side and the demand side. On the supply side, under the traditional
gender division of labor and social norms, women have to take up most of the family care responsibilities.
In order to take care of children and the family, many women choose jobs that are more time flexible or less
physically demanding. These types of jobs tend to pay poorly. On the demand side, gender stereotypes or
information asymmetry leads to discrimination against women by employers. It is worth noticing that social
discrimination and personal preference are reinforcing each other. For example, the injustice women suffered
from in the labor market dampened their willingness to work, and cultivated a perception that women should
only participate in certain types of occupations in the society. Influenced by this perception, women themselves
would develop so-called “female occupation” preferences (Phelps, 1972). Regardless of these reasons, genderbased occupational segregation results in women’s concentration in limited occupations and sectors, which lead
to income disparities.
According to the Chinese Family Panel Studies23 in 2011, men’s wages were higher than women’s in every sector.
However, the gender gap in wage payment in the public sector and the state-owned enterprises was smaller
than that of the private sector or household businesses. The gender gap in wage payment is the smallest in the
public sector, and the biggest in private enterprises, as shown in Chart 7. In addition, men’s wages are higher
22
than women’s in every occupation. The gap between the annual wage of male managers and that of female
managers is roughly 13,000 RMB, which is the biggest in all occupations. The wage of male clerks and that of
female clerks is almost the same, which is the smallest in all occupations, as is shown in Chart 8 (Deng and
Ding, 2012).
35000
30000
25000
20000
(yuan)
■ Men
15000
■ Women
10000
5000
0
Public
Sector
State Owned Private
Household
Social
Collective Enterprises Organizations Business
Enterprises
Chart 7 Annual Wage Income by Economic Sector24
50000
45000
40000
35000
30000
(yuan)
25000
■ Men
20000
■ Women
15000
10000
5000
0
Managers Professionals Clerks
and
Technicians
Business Production Presonnel Engagec
Service Operators Farming Forestry
Personnel
Animal Husbandry and Fishery
Chart 8 Annual Wage Income by Occupation25
23
Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) is a major social science project conducted by the Institute of Social Science Survey of Peking
University. Through comprehensive data collection on individuals, households and communities, it aims to reflect social, economic,
population, education and health changes in the Chinese society.
24
Source: CFPS 2011.
25
Source: CFPS 2011.
23
A gender gap in wage payment may result from either competence difference or discrimination. One important
indicator of competency is educational attainment. The gender gap in educational attainment has been
gradually narrowed since the market-oriented economic reform. The share of female college students rose from
23.4 percent in 1980 to 33.7 percent in 1990, and from 40.9 percent in 2000 to 50.8 percent in 2010 (An, 2011).
It only took three decades for the proportion of female college students to double and surpass that of male
college students. The gap in average schooling years of men and women narrowed from 1.9 years (7.4 years for
men, 5.5 years for women) in 1990 to 1.3 years (8.3 years for men, 7.0 years for women) in 2000, and 0.8 year (9.2
years for men, 8.4 years for women)26 in 2010. Apart from the low enrollment rate of rural women, Chinese urban
women have generally gained equal access to education at all levels, which is unprecedented in Chinese history.
However, the narrowed gender gap in educational opportunity has not decreased the gender gap in income.
Empirical studies on China’s labor market showed that both discrimination within occupations and among
occupations contribute to the gender gap in wage payment (Wang, 2005). Discrimination within occupations
contributes as much as 68 percent of the gender gap in wage payment (Li and Ma, 2006). Research focusing on
doctoral students’ study and employment showed that all people with doctoral degrees have monthly incomes
lower than their expectations. However, men with doctoral degrees have higher expected monthly incomes,
higher acceptable lowest monthly incomes, and higher actual monthly incomes than their female counterparts (Ma,
2008), as is shown in Table 3.
Table 3 Expected Income and Acceptable Lowest Income
of People with Doctoral Degree27 (Yuan)
Men with
Doctoral Degree
Women with
Doctoral Degree
Expected Monthly Income
6836.6 5486.0
Acceptable Lowest Monthly Income
4393.0 3509.1
Actual Monthly Income
5145.7 4316.8
(Unit: Yuan)
It is clear that the increase in educational attainment has led to growth in men’s and women’s income in China,
but it has not resulted in a narrower income gap between men and women. To put it another way, improved
educational attainment of Chinese women has not been translated into equal status in the labor market or equal
recognition of and remuneration for their labor value.
26
Data from 1990, 2000 and 2010 Population Census of People’s Republic of China,, cited from Women and Men in China: Facts and Data
2012, 2012, edited by the Department of Social, Science and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of
China, Beijing: Pp. 66.
27
Source: Ma Ying. 2008. “Research Achievement and Gender Disparity: Research on the Study and Employment of PhD Graduates”.
Chinese Women’s Research Society, cited from Liu Bohong, and Li Yani. 2011. “Gender Issues in Chinese Higher Education”. Journal of
Yunan Nationalities University (Social Sciences). 28(001): 55-64.
24
3. Gender Disparity in Unpaid Care Work
Existing studies show that one important reason for discrimination against women in the labor market is that
women are burdened with child-rearing and housework, and are therefore saddled with substantially more family
care responsibilities (Liu et al., 2008). Unpaid family care work is neither recognized by the society, nor included
in the GDP or conventional labor force surveys. Because unpaid family care work limits women’s participation
in the labor force and their occupational choices, it is the main variable responsible for gender discrimination
and the gender gap in wage payment in the labor market (Elson, 1999). In addition, unpaid care work has a
considerable adverse impact on women’s individual rights, capacities and autonomy (Robeyns, 2002). In this part,
we will first briefly introduce the definition and features of care work. Then, we will explain why it is women that
shoulder most of the family care work from the New Home Economics perspective and the Feminist Economics
perspective. Moreover, we will discuss the impact of unpaid care work on women in the background of China’s
economic transition. Finally, we will discuss the value created by unpaid care work.
Care work refers to direct care for people, which includes not only physical activities of providing care, but also
construction of emotional bonds and demonstration of care for the recipients. There exists paid care work and
unpaid care work, with the former provided by the government, the market, and for-profit or non-profit private
institutions, and the latter provided by family members, friends and in some cases volunteers from churches
and other charity organizations (Dong, 2009). In almost every country, women represent the bulk of both paid
and unpaid care workers. Care work is different from work of other forms in three ways. First, care work entails
care and love for the persons being cared for (Himmelweit, 1999; England and Folbre, 2003). Care work, in the
absence of emotional care for the persons being taken care of, is incomplete. Compared with other types of
work, care work requires internal motivation. Therefore, genuine love for the persons being taken care of is
extremely important. Second, labor input is the most important factor in care work. The fact that care work is
provided directly to people makes it harder to form economies of scale than other kind of work (Himmelweit,
2005). To improve productivity by increasing the average number of care receivers per caregiver tends to
sacrifice care quality. Thus, the improvement of productivity in care work is much slower than in other sectors.
High-quality paid care work is expensive, which low-income families cannot afford. Therefore, for low-income
families, family care can hardly be replaced by care provided by the market. Third, family care has an external
economic and spillover effect (Folbre, 2004). Investment in high-quality care and education for children will bring
high rate of return to the society (Carmerio and Heckman, 2003; World Bank, 2006).
In nearly all countries in the world, the responsibility of taking care of the young, the old, the ill, the disabled, and
family members falls on women. New Home Economics and Feminist Economics have their explanations of
why this is. New Home Economics holds that families are both consumption and production units. Both the wife
and the husband have shared interests. Assume that their interests are all altruistic, that is, they care about the
interests of each other’s instead of their own. Generally the market wage of the husband is higher than that
of the wife, and the household productivity of the wife is higher than that of the husband, therefore a pattern
is formed where the husband is engaged in market labor while the wife is engaged in housework. However,
the theory of New Home Economics advocated by Becker and others has the following deficiencies (Folbre,
2004). First, the interests of family members are often conflicting. Second, this theory overlooks the inequality
25
in the division of family labor, and the imbalance of rights between men and women. For example, dedicating
themselves to housework makes women financially dependent on others, and they would lose their source of
income when widowed or divorced. In addition, women’s human capital investment in family care is more likely
to depreciate. Thirdly, due to the asymmetric information28, external economy effect, and spillover effect of
care work, the allocation of care work by the family or the market is not necessarily the optimal choice for the
society. Given the shortcomings in New Home Economics theory, Feminist Economics gives another explanation
on why women shoulder most of the responsibilities of unpaid care work. This theory holds that the gender roles
of men and women are socially constructed, and that people’s behaviors and decisions are shaped by customs,
institutions, laws and regulations. Traditional gender norms reinforce the gendered division of labor through the
interaction between the labor market and marriage market, which not only influences individual behaviors, but
also the economic system and public policies. This in turn reinforces traditional gender norms. The traditional
gender norm that “men work outside as the breadwinner while women stay at home to take care of the family”
still influences people’s behaviors, market operations and public policy-making (Elson, 1995). People take it for
granted that women should be the caregiver while at the same time the contribution of women’s care work is not
fully recognized or valued. A case in point is that social security benefits are determined by wage level and the
number of employment years, which neglects the contribution of unpaid care work provided by women.
After the founding of the PRC, families in China have evolved from the kinship tie centered, patriarchal and male
dominated pattern in an agricultural society to the modern nuclear family pattern where the husband and the wife
share equal rights inside the family (Ding, 2001). Gender equality advocated by the government has promoted
equal participation of urban women in social production and activities, to a large extent. In a way, policy
intervention by the government has changed gendered division of labor and rebuilt gender relations in China
(Jiang, 2000). Although traditional gender stereotypes still applied, the social welfare policies and public services
provided by the government through the work units largely offset the dual burden of work and family bore by
Chinese urban women (Liu et al., 2008). After the market-oriented economic reform, these public services were
taken over by the market and families. When the public services provided by the market can no longer meet the
needs of families and when families can no longer afford family care services, the responsibilities of family care
fall back on women’s shoulders. And when women participate in market competition with more family burden on
their shoulders, discrimination against them begins to surface.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics’ time-use survey shows that the traditional gender stereotype of “men
working outside and women staying at home” still affects modern family life. As is shown in Table 4, women
spend almost three times as much time as men on unpaid work every week. Unpaid work takes up only 20.2
percent of men’s time, but 47.1 percent in women’s case. This phenomenon is more prominent in rural areas,
where women spend over three times as much time as men on unpaid work, including spending four times as
much time as men on taking care of children. It is clear that women—especially rural women—perform most
of the unpaid work. Women are burdened both with unpaid work and paid work, which means they have much
28
Asymmetric information refers to the situation in which different parties in a transaction have different information. In social, political
and economic activities, some members have more information than other members, which leads to information asymmetry. Information
asymmetry could result in adverse selection. This often happens in transactions where the seller knows more than the buyer, although
the reverse can happen as well. Selling a used car is an example of information asymmetry where the seller knows the car better than
the buyer. Medical insurance is an example of adverse selection because the buyer has more information.
26
longer working hours and much less spare time each day than men (Dong and An, 2012).
Table 4 Average Time Use of Chinese (hour/week)29
Total UrbanRural
Men Women
Men
Paid Work
42.0
30.7
33.0
25.0
51.7
37.3
Unpaid Work
10.6
27.3
12.9
27.6
8.1
26.9
Unpaid Housework
8.1
22.3
10.0
22.5
6.1
21.9
Child Care
1.3
3.6
1.5
3.2
1.0
4.0
Proportion of time spent on unpaid work in total working time (%)
20.2 47.1
28.1
Women
52.4
MenWomen
13.5 41.9
Source: Dong and An, 2012
Empirical studies in China suggest that unpaid care work has adverse impacts on women’s employment, income
and other economic activities. Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data from 1991 to 2004, Du
Fenglian and Dong Xiaoyuan (2010) analyzed the impact of China’s reform of child care provisions on the choice
of child care in relation to urban women’s participation in labor force. The study shows that women’s participation
in the labor force and the choice of children’s preschool education vary greatly in different economic and social
strata. Women with low educational attainment and from low-income families have a higher probability of
withdrawing from the labor market and a lower probability of using formal nursery services. For working women,
the higher educational attainment their husbands have, the higher the probability of them using formal nursery
services. The study also finds that prohibiting public kindergartens from recruiting small children aged 0 to 2
greatly reduces women’s labor force participation rate30. In urban areas, wages of women with children is 20
percent less than that of their childless counterparts. The wage gap widened further by the end of the 1990s,
and was much more prominent in the private sector than in the public sector (Jia and Dong, 2012). Studies
also find that women taking care of their own parents do not compromise their labor force participation or their
working hours, but taking care of their parents-in-law reduces both of these two indicators (Liu et al., 2010)31.
In addition, unpaid care work also affects women’s individual rights, capacities and autonomy. Sufficient time
at their own discretion enables people to pursue additional interests (Robeyns, 2002). Many working women
face the dual responsibilities of work and family. Lengthy working hours are harmful for their health, restrict
29
Source: Dong Xiaoyuan and Xinli An. 2012. Gender Patterns and Value of Unpaid Work: Findings from China’s First Large-Scale Time
Use Survey. UNRISD Research Paper, 2012-6.
30
In the era of the planned economy, women have an eight-week maternity leave. They are allowed to bring their infants to nursing rooms
in the work units after the maternity leave. The infants then went to nurseries, kindergartens, and primary schools. This system used to
promote women’s labor force participation. After the market transition, taking care of children aged 0 to 3 became solely the mothers’
responsibility.
31
This study argues that compared with taking care of their own parents, women face more pressure to participate in paid work when they
are taking care of their in-laws, depending on the attitudes of their husbands. Traditional patriarchal ideology treats taking care of inlaws as women’s responsibility which could replace paid work, while taking care of women’s own parents is voluntary and not compulsory
thus women are expected to continue working. Taking care of parents-in-law may result in women’s lower labor force participation rate,
while taking care of their own parents would not affect their involvement in the labor market, although the total amount of time devoted
to work and care increases.
27
their own development, and limit their social and political participation. Liu Lan and Chen Gong (2010) studied
the relationship between taking care of parents and self-evaluated health conditions of urban married women.
Results showed an adverse relationship between elderly care and self-evaluated health conditions. Taking care
of parents increased the psychological and physical stress of married women.
In reality, unpaid care work has great economic value. According to Dong and An’s (2012) analysis of the timeuse survey data in China in 2008, the value created by unpaid care work was equal to 25 percent to 32 percent
of China’s GDP, 52 percent to 66 percent of China’s consumption, and 63 percent to 80 percent of China’s
gross output value. However, the value of women’s unpaid housework and their contribution to the family and to
the society are not recognized in the market economy. Instead, unpaid housework hinders women from entering
the labor market. For-profit companies and the competitive and profit-driven market prefer male employees with
no family burden while rejecting women under the pretext that they suffer the dual burden of work and family.
This makes women the first to be fired and the last to be hired in the labor market. They used to “hold up half
of the sky” in the planned economy era, but are now the most unpopular and being discriminated against in the
market economy. Changes in economic and public policies in the past three decades of the market-oriented
reform has accelerated the marginalization of women in the labor market and exacerbated gender inequality.
28
III. Discussions and Impact
Drastic social transformation in China has brought rapid and sustained economic development and better
economic strength, but it has resulted in a gender gap in the labor market and intensified conflict between work
and family. These changes have far-reaching consequences.
First, these changes affect economic development. Gender inequality has a negative effect on labor force
participation and human-resource utilization. In the context of market-oriented reform, gender disparities in job
opportunities and wage payments in the labor market are increasing, which result in women’s lower labor force
participation in the labor market. For those women who stay in the labor market, their work motivations are
dampened. Nowadays, more and more women in China have equal access to higher education and professional
education. By the end of 2011, 51.14 percent of college students are women (Department of Social, Science
and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2012). However, there is
an emerging trend of rejection and discrimination against female college graduates in the labor market. It is
particularly difficult for female college graduates to enter into the male-dominated industries or administrative
level positions, which is a huge waste of high level female human resources. Women retire 5 to 10 years earlier
than men in the current retirement system in China, which is also a significant waste of highly experienced and
capable female human resources. Gender inequality also exacerbates the wealth gap in China. It interacts with
the urban-rural divide. The average rural income is lower than the average urban income, and in rural areas
women’s income is lower than men’s. Thus rural women become the group with the lowest income. In addition,
gender discrimination may result in unequal access to education and employment opportunities, especially for
women living in rural areas, areas with high poverty rates, or ethnic minority areas. This further leads to gender
disparities in income, social security and public services.
Second, social development is affected. Offering women equal educational opportunities, economic rights and
political rights is not only a demonstration of social justice, but also the best investment in social development.
Conversely, gender inequality causes a loss to human development. As is shown in Chart 9, the loss of human
development caused by gender inequality in China was as high as 40 percent (UNDP, 2010).
29
Chart 9 Loss Caused by Gender Inequality to Human Development(%)
100
80
20
Central African
Republic
Mozambique
Peru
Namibia
Indonesia
Armenia
60
40
Yemen
Loss
Ukraine
Czech
Republic
Denmark
0
0
China
Korea
Netherland
Sweden
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
HDI Loss Caused by Gender Inequality on HDI Distnbution(%)
Chart 9 Loss Caused by Gender Inequality32
In addition, gender inequality will exacerbate gender imbalance in China. Certain Chinese laws and policies, such
as different retirement ages for male and female civil servants, current rural land policies, economic policies
and maternity leave policies, showcase the lack of a female perspective and impede women’s survival and
development. Gender inequality cultivates Chinese people’s son preference. It intensifies the unbalanced sex
ratio at birth in China and damages social justice and sustainable development in the Chinese society.
Third, families are affected. Gender disparity in the labor market and the underestimation of unpaid care
work worsen gender inequality within families. Excluded by the labor market, women’s role inside the family is
strengthened, accompanied with their deteriorating family status. After China’s market reform, a “social class of
housewives” has emerged, along with the idea that women can change their fates by depending on men. This
creates a note of discord in Chinese women’s efforts to fight for equality and emancipation. The double burden
from work and family also impedes Chinese women’s social development. On the one hand, the society expects
women to play a good family role. Yet on the other hand, the labor market denies women access because
they play that central role in the family. The subordinate position of women within the family and in the labor
market disadvantages them in political and social life. Furthermore, the shrinking family size and the pursuit of
modern life make family care more demanding and time-consuming. Yet the government and the society do not
advocate that men and women should bear family and social responsibilities together. Thus, with the traditional
stereotype that “men work outside and women stay at home”, the responsibility of family care falls mostly on
women. In China, reform of the pension system, increasing childbearing responsibility, higher cost of childrearing,
insufficient public services, and changes in individual ideologies have shaken the tradition of raising children to
provide old age support. There is a trend toward late marriage, late childbirth, and even voluntary childlessness in
the urban areas. Meanwhile, corporate culture, policy orientation, and a faster life pace have produced negative
consequences on the time availability and care quality of elderly care work inside families, which further amplify
women’s care work.
32
Source: UNDP: Human Development Report 2010: The Influence of Poverty, Gender and Inequality Described with New Creative
Measurements, New York: 2010. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/
30
Fourth, children’s education is affected. Inequality can be transferred across generations. The social status
and educational ideologies of the parents affects their children’s views on issues like competence of men and
women and gender equality. One study, A Gender Study on Female Science and Technology Professionals in
China, examined the relation between girls’ evaluation on women’s capacity for scientific research, and their
parents’ educational attainment. The study found that girls whose fathers were leaders or managers were
most likely to agree that men were better than women in their capacity for scientific research, while girls whose
mothers were leaders or managers were least likely to agree. Their evaluations were clearly affected by their
parents’ occupations. Those girls whose fathers were leaders or managers saw men’s advantages in their daily
life and were therefore prone to think men had better capacity for scientific research. By contrast, those girls
whose mothers were leaders or managers felt women’s advantages more often in their daily life, and therefore
disagree that men had better capacity for scientific research (Research Group of Science Times: A Gender
Study on Female Scientists in China, 2011). Without proper guidance, consequences of gender inequality would
influence the views and capacities of the next generation thus dampening human capital in the society in the
long run. The reproduction of the culture of gender inequality is harmful and contrary to the socialist core values
promoted by the Chinese Communist Party.
31
IV. Policy Recommendations
After the market-oriented economic reform, the Chinese government signed a series of UN’s core human rights conventions.
The Chinese government considers the respect and protection of human rights—including women’s rights—as an obligation
and responsibility of the state and the government. Gender equality was included into the Report to the Eighteenth National
Congress of the Communist Party of China as one of the fundamental state policies. Therefore, when discussing and
formulating post-2015 development goals, the Chinese government should carry forward and promote the socialist traditions,
honor its commitment to the international community and to its own people, and incorporate the values and goals of the
abovementioned human rights conventions into the new human development framework for the future.
First, equality and justice shall be considered an important goal of the global agenda, as well as China’s economic and social
development. From the previous analysis on employment opportunities, income and unpaid work, it is clear that inequality and
injustice resulting from widening gender disparity have surfaced in Chinese people’s lives for the first time since the founding
of the PRC. In the past three decades of reform, economic prosperity, market development and national wealth have brought
people development opportunities and improved life, but they have widened the wealth gap and gender disparity. In addition,
gender inequality is compounded by poverty, social class, an urban-rural divide, ethnicity, disability, marital status, age, sexual
orientation, and social identity, making women all the more disadvantaged in various disadvantaged groups. This, together
with some undesirable phenomena in the market and the society, has generated malignant inequality. This is not unique to
China, but rather it is a common problem in the world. Therefore, when discussing the post-2015 agenda and the Chinese
dream33, China should prioritize the reduction of the wealth gap and the realization of social justice as the first and foremost
goal in sustainable development. China should pursue substantive equality instead of formal equality or protective gender
equality, so that all members of the society, including both men and women, can equally participate in social development,
and equally share its fruits.
Second, gender equality shall be mainstreamed into the policymaking of China’s macro-economic and social development.
Gender mainstreaming is a global strategy adopted at the UN’s Fourth Conference on Women, and the Chinese government
was one of the first 49 governments to make a commitment on gender mainstreaming. The previous gender analysis on
employment opportunities, income and unpaid work shows that when policymakers make macro-economic and social
decisions, they tend to privilege economic benefits and wealth increases, blindly believing in market forces and the
importance of GDP growth. Regarding the traditional gendered division of labor that “men work outside and women stay
at home” as the basis of policy making, policymakers do not pay attention to the unequal outcomes including gender
inequality brought by their seemingly “neutral” policies. Therefore, the government should mainstream gender equality into the
policymaking of China’s macro-economic and social development. As a first step, it needs to analyze the impact of current
economic and social policies, plans and programs on both genders, on different social groups, and on economic and social
development. It shall purposely implement remedial measures or temporary actions to correct possible unequal and unfair
outcomes so as to realize substantive equality. In addition, the government should evaluate the gender equality and justice
assessments in its future plans of economic restructuring, income distribution reform and urbanization design, in order to
eliminate all types of discrimination against women and other disadvantaged groups and protect the equal rights of both men
33
Chinese dream is an administrative ideal and principle promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping in the Eighteenth National Congress
of the Communist Party of China in 2012. At the center of the Chinese dream is the “Two 100s”, that is: by the 100th anniversary of the
Chinese Communist Party in 2021, and by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic in 2049, gradually accomplish
the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
32
and women to join and share the economic, social development and family happiness. Third, substantive equality and social
justice shall be fully integrated into China’s “five in one” socialist development framework (economic, political, cultural, social
and ecological development). Gender mainstreaming mechanisms shall be put in place to address deep-rooted structural
and institutional issues of inequality and injustice, so as to truly implement the fundamental state policy of gender equality.
Third, interventions in the labor market shall be enhanced to eliminate gender discrimination in employment and occupation.
The inequality in the previously mentioned three aspects means discrimination. It is not only based on gender, but also
interacts with discrimination against other identities (race, skin color, religion, political views, national origin and social origin,
etc.). Discrimination is evident not only in the abovementioned three aspects, but also in three phases: pre-market (education
and training), in-market (occupational career) and post-market (retirement). The Chinese government signed the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1980, ratified the No. 100 Equal Remuneration Convention
of the International Labor Office (ILO) in 1990, and also ratified the No. 111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention of the ILO in 2007. Yet, for several years and even several decades since then, despite the Labor Law, the
Employment Promotion Act and the Labor Contract Law it promulgated, there is still no clear definition of employment
discrimination, neither the definition of direct discrimination nor the definition of indirect discrimination. In times of oversupply
of labor force and economic recession, the Chinese government managed to get more than 760 million people employed,
which was a remarkable achievement. But the government did not show the same courage and wisdom to solve employment
discrimination and occupational discrimination as it did in solving unemployment. This has dampened the enthusiasm of
workers, and resulted in lower productivity. The Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party aims to “promote
employment with higher quality”, which sets an important direction and protection of advancing equality employment and
fighting against employment discrimination in the labor market. Therefore, the following recommendations are made.
First, employment and occupational discrimination shall be clearly defined, including direct discrimination and indirect
discrimination, so as to offer equal employment opportunities to all workers. Second, policies to fight against employment and
occupational discrimination shall be formulated to regulate the Chinese labor market in order to establish and improve the
employment system, promote employment environment, and to encourage corporations to take their social responsibilities.
Multiple approaches including administrative, legal, and social measures shall be adopted with operational implementation
and monitoring mechanisms to strengthen regulation and intervention on employment and occupational discrimination. Third,
skill training and occupational guidance shall be strengthened and occupational segregation shall be eradicated in order to
break the glass ceiling and give women equal opportunities for career development.
Fourth, the principle of equal pay for work of equal value shall be insisted upon in order to implement No.100 Equal
Remuneration Convention. The reform of the Chinese income distribution system shall be accelerated. Traditional views hold
that increasing gross domestic product can constantly improve economic efficiency and promote social progress, and that
everything good in life comes from growth, thus we should pursue growth first and consider distribution later. The increased
gender gap in payment we previously mentioned runs contrary to this myth. As the champion of economic growth, China
witnesses the widening wealth gap and the rapid rise of Gini coefficient, which has led to unequal outcomes in economic
participation. Therefore the following suggestions are made. First, according to the 46th provision of China’s Labor Law,
wages should be work-based, and equal pay shall be made for equal work. Equal remuneration for equal work shall be
applied to workers of different social identities and employments. Second, the government should give a detailed definition
and standard for “work of equal value,” establish scientific and non-biased performance evaluation mechanisms, and
gradually achieve equal pay for work of equal values. Taken together, these processes aim to end the underestimation of
33
women’s labor value in low-income industries clustered with female workers, break the occupational segregation in the labor
market, and narrow the gender gap in payment. Third, to achieve social justice and equality of outcome, gender disparity and
the wealth gap shall be reduced through tax, social security, social welfare and public services.
Fifth, the value of unpaid work shall be recognized and family care services shall be integrated into the public service system.
Previous analysis of unpaid work suggests that the privatization, feminization and marketization of childcare and family
care reinforce the traditional gendered division of labor and result in gender inequality. Since the beginning of the twenty first
century, the Chinese government has strengthened social development, and has adopted the strategy of equalization of
social services. However, the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Public Service System set by the government did not include the
elimination of gender inequality or the recognition of unpaid work. Therefore the following suggestions are made. First, the
provision of family service and family welfare shall be integrated into the national public service system. The government
should focus on the development of the family service industry so as to introduce family care services into social welfare.
This is an important method to eliminate gender inequality and the wealth gap (especially to support low income families),
and a fundamental way of easing women’s burden of unpaid work. Second, human-centered family policies rather than family
planning policies shall be developed to help male and female workers with family responsibilities to balance their work and
family. Family services shall be developed and a family-friendly social support system shall be built. Third, men and women
shall be encouraged to equally share family and social responsibilities. Policies such as paternity leave and parental leave
shall be introduced to encourage men to take family care responsibility in an equal manner. Fourth, the value of unpaid work
shall be recognized by providing corresponding social security benefits and granting rights to family property in accordance
with the value of unpaid work. The maternity coverage and health insurance system shall be developed.
Sixth, the reform of the political system shall be strengthened to promote women’s participation in administration and
policymaking. Gender inequality in the three aspects of the economy previously mentioned has been translated into a
marginalized voice and lessened decision-making power for women in political life. The growth of the gross domestic product
does not automatically lead to gender equality. Rather, unequal social norms are not only acquired in the process of individual
socialization, but often reinforced by market signals, along with formal or informal institutions. Social customs in China
assume that political and economic decision-making are men’s responsibility, and that female leaders have “long hair but
little brains”. The low level of women’s political engagement further consolidates this misconception. Given that challenges
to the existing systems and social norms can help promote gender equality, and that the collective initiatives of women can
shape institutional, market and social norms, it is extremely important to increase women’s engagement in policymaking, to
improve the quality of their engagement, and to make democratic decision-making more scientific and more representative.
Last, gender equality and human rights education shall be included in China’s cultural development. After the founding of
the PRC, gender equality became the mainstream ideology. The improvement in gender equality that resulted from legal
and other policies used to attract world attention. However, after market-oriented economic reform, various market failures,
institutional barriers, social norms, and diversified culture have shaken and confused people’s conception about the equality
of men and women. So far, China has not embraced a continuous reflection on the concept of gender equality and its
development which were largely shared by the international community. Because China does not have a long history of
human rights culture, there appears to be a collective unawareness of core human rights principles including “equality”, “nondiscrimination”, and “government obligation and responsibility”. Therefore, the government should incorporate gender equality
and social justice into China’s mainstream cultural development, and make them an important component of China’s socialist
core values so that every Chinese would obey them in their minds and behaviors.
34
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Gender Equity in China Economic Transformation

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