Chinese Women in Workforces - Research Paper Example

Number: Lecturer: Chinese Women in Workforces Women globally have had to contend with a lot of issues especially to do with discrimination in the male dominated or partriachal societies. Discrimination often results from stereotyping of gender roles in traditional societies whereby women were relegated to the home as caretakers of children, husband and family as a whole. Chinese women have not spared when it comes to discrimination in education, jobs, leadership roles, and also sexual abuse. This is due to stereotyping of women as caratakers of the ir husbands and the male child given the importance attached to a male child in a country governed with the one child policy and entrenched patrilineal inheritance of property. The demand to have only child in the family has often led to sex-selective abortion of females, female infanticide and consequently prostitution as there are not enough women to marry. When it comes to education, girls are mostly denied the chance to have education in preference for boys. This has implication on the workforce as women tend to occupy low paying jobs if ever they get a chance to enter the workforce and hardly occupy leadership roles in organizations. For example according to China National Bureau of Statistics, women represent 45% of the workforce but their salary is 74 % leass than men’s wage. However, not all is lost as women’s equality status has been improving since resumption to power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on a platform of gender equality since 1949. Much has been done in terms of law formulations and other programs but much still needs to be done to liberate Chinese women. This essay will discuss and evaluate the progress of women in the workforce under the communist regime (1949-now). In order to understand the plight of women in the workforce during the communist regime, it is imperative to delve into the background of the problem. The stereotyping of women characteristic even in the labor laws today dates back to Chinese history of patrilineal distribution of wealth and marriage. Women in the past had no freedom to choose a husband as marriages were arranged and spouse was chosen based on family needs (Engel, 955-961). The role of the woman in this marriage was to bear a son to continue family lineage. There were also purchase marriages that turned a woman into property of the husband which he could sell at his discretion. Marrying second wives and keeping concubines was a prevalent practice and there was nothing women could do about it until 1950 when a marriage law was passed to prohibit concubinage, female subordination and oppression (Engel 955-961). Another marriage law passed in 1980 banned forced as well as arranged marriages and gave women the right to divorce thus empowering women. With onset of industrialization in Mainland China and freedom to choose husbands, young rural women who migrated there to search jobs often became either prostitutes or second wives thus quitting their jobs. The relationship between men and women was guided by the confucious ideology which regarded women as inferior and whose only role is to raise the male child. Family property was inherited by the eldest son and in absence of sons, brother’s sons (nephews) or adopted sons (Bernhardt, 175). This stereotyping of women as inferior to men affected all areas of their lives including engagement in the workforce. Although previous governments such as that of Nationalists headed by Kuomintang from 1911 to 1948 tried to improve women’s place in society by outlawing foot binding, discouraging polygamy and promoting women education, the party did not put much emphasis on gender equality (Burnett 293). The predecessor government or Qing dynasty (1644-1912) did nothing to protect women from discrimination. The liberation of women coincided with the communist revolution and ascendance to power of the CCP under People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 todate. The framework for equality for the government was based on global women rights intiatives speahearded by groups such as Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and international laws such as those spearheaded by the International Labor Organization (ILO). In his speech after the 1949 revolution, Mao Zedong the chairman of CCP said “times have changed and today men and women are equal. Whatever men comrades can do, women comrades can do” (Burnett 294). This was the first step in women liberation and was also the main goal or slogan of the revolution; CCP’s platform was equality. Women have since entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers in commerce and service sectors, professional and technical occupations as well as industrial production for export especially of textiles, footwear and electronics. Women now represent 49% of China’s population and 46% of the laborforce as represented by chart 1.0. As such, the efforts put forward to accomplish this goal have seen China rise to be the most egalitarian country in the world. The World Bank indicates that 68% of females aged 15 and above are part of China’s workforce and this is more than most countries in the West. This can be attributed to the economic growth of China especially in infrastructure. Most of these (one third) are migrants from rural areas. Even though they earn one third less than their male counterparts, they fulfill the old Chinese saying that “women lift up half the sky’ in this country” (Song, 2015). Source: ILO, "Employment: Table 2C: Total Employment, by Occupation (Thousands)", Laborsta (2010). The first step for the CCP was to incorporate women issues in the constitution which was ratified in 1954. The Article 91 of the constitution according to Burnett gave women “equal rights with men in all areas of political, economic, cultural, social and domestic life” (289). This entailed among other things equal pay for equal work hence stopping discrimination in pay. This was a right step forward but which faced challenges in implementation due to the long held culture or mentality that women are surbodinate to men hence do not deserve equal pay. As such, the law was there physically but not applied by organizations as most of them opted to promote men. This was made worse by the society which refused to change with times hence did not value girl’s education which would enable her to compete effectively with men. Furthermore, it is the same government that through implementation of wages industry wide gave lower pay scales to the so called ‘women’ industries (Hershatter 62). Women were also required to work in times of scarcity and sent home when work is less or unemployment is low. For example, during the Great Leap Forward of 1958-60, more women entered the workforce to take up unskilled jobs while men shifted to more skilled jobs (p. 60-61). The period was referred as “Iron rice bowl” due to the numerous benefits women enjoyed such as medical care, child care, education and housing. Another instant when women saw increased participation in the workforce was during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) during Mao Dezong’s reign. According to Fan Shen a female witness (Red Guard) memoir, the revolution with Mao as commander aim was “to make China red inside out and then help working people of other countres make world red…....and then the whole universe” ( Shen 1). It was meant to attack four olds of Chinese society: customs, culture, habits and ideas hence build a new society on the ashes of the old (p. 4). They thus burned books that represented bourgeoisie culture. Through attacking and doing away with old cultural practices, this meant liberation of women as those cultures mainly made women less important in society. The revolution thus saw increased participation of women in men’s jobs and leadership positions. In addition, it discouraged feminine attributes and encouraged women to show strength and capacity hence are equal to men (Burnett 295). Many of these advancements however were lost with the reforms of 1970s and 1980s after Mao Zedong’s death. After the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong passed on and was replaced by Deng Xiaoping. His era of marketization saw main gains as well as loss of gains made during Mao’s era. According to Hershatter, “the reforms eliminated the ‘iron rice bowl’” (64). It also eliminated job security as now women were supposed to compete for the scarce jobs. As a result, labor participation for women declined by 7% (Burnett, 297). One reason for such decline was that even though labor laws were formulated to ensure equality in line with ILO and CEDAW, they limited women from entering some occupations labeled unsuitable for women. The old mentarity of women as incapable of leading or doing strenous jobs returned thus relegating women to lower ranks and in low pay industries such as textiles and catering. According to Burnettt, “the status and role of women declined or stagnated” (297). In addition they were denied social welfare benefits, subjected to earlier retirement and sexual harassment as well as fined for violating family planning regulations for achievement of one child policy. The PRC government made various strides in women liberation under Qing such as signing and ratifying international treaties such as CEDAW and ILO Convention for Equal Remuneration for Equal Work which prohibited discrimination against women. It also held Beijing conference in 1995 which aimed at addressing gender-related employement problems and also joined World Trade Organization (WTO). It also passed a lot of legislations to prohibit discrimination against women in the workforce. Examples of laws include the 1982 constitution which made all citizens equal before the law hence women could enjoy equal rights as men in all spheres of life (Burnett 303). A labor protection regulation was passed in 1988 that established benefits for women such as child care and maternity leave, breast feeding rooms, ban from underground mining, and high intensity work. This was contrary to what Mao advocated during the Cultural Revolution of strength and capacity for women. Burnett argues that this law stereotyped women as incapable and weak whose role is caretaking thus forming a bad precedence for future laws (Burnett 304). The 1992 law also followed the same criteria of women not engaging in unsuitable work and some provisions such as prohibition their termination on basis of marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave. This accordng to Burnett is gender stereotyping and resulted in denial of jobs for women by companies due to expenses involved in obeying such laws. The law also allowed All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) to be engaged in state decision making processes. This was a positive step towards ensuring the rights of women were catered for in state policies. However, the employment promotion law of 2007 solved these problems by not being gender specific. It also gives sanctions for those who do not create or honor contracts (Burnett 311). This law is aimed at creating social harmony in China. Due to these efforts by PRC government, China women’s participation has superceded other nations such as India by far. The results of Gallup polls conducted in India and China between 2009 and 2012 is evidence of this growth. The report showed that 70% of Chinese women are either employed in some capacity or seeking employment with only 5% comprising unemployed women. Chinese women are also nearly twice as likely to be employed full time for an employer as Indians 21% vs 11%. Another notable improvement is the nearly disappearing gender gap among the Chinese especially in those with highest level of education (81% women vs 82% men). The survey was conducted face-to-face with 17, 0000 adults (15+) in China and 20, 000 adults in India with 95% confidence level hence is a representative figure. However, it may be prone to bias as people do not often give true information especially if it is face-to-face. Though much progress has been made as regards to Chinese women workforce, there are still problems that need to be dealt with to achieve parity. One major progress for women is the relaxation of regulations of permanent residence registration that restricted migrant women from getting benefits. China has also signed and ratified various treaties and localized the laws to prevent discrimination in employment such as ILO convention on equal pay. However, discrimination in pay is still persistent as evidenced by statistics. According to Bureau of statistics, women represent 45% of country workforce but their salary is 74% less than men’s (Burnett 291). The same report indicates that in 2002, women were twice as men in jobs that paid under 500RMB per month while men were one and half times more than women in jobs that paid more than 2000 RMB per month (292). Moreover, of 1100 college graduates, 80% reported having experienced gender discrimination inn job search. Another problem is the complicated process of litigation that hinders women from fighting for their rights. Moreover statistics show that in 1995, women only occupied 0.2% positions in government agencies hence improvements are needed on government side (Burnett 308). Though the communist government helped much to liberate women, they alone are insufficient unless women join in the liberation efforts. First, they must learn to take advantage of the already established laws to defend their rights as laws are useless without being put into practical use. Enlightened women and women organizations such as ACWF should also join in efforts to educate masses especially women on their rights to equal employment. They can also assist in establishing and manning legal aid centers. Those who have successfully filed suits and got compensation should be witnesses to others who fear or mistrust the judicial system so as to encourage them to defend their rights. Conclusion Women in China represent 49% of the population and 46% of its workforce. As such, China is one of the most egalitarian nations but this does not mean discrimination in employment is not prevalent. Women are still restricted from engaging in certain kinds of work and disparity in pay between men and women is apparent. However, the communist regime has done much to liberate women by formulating laws based on international standards to prohibit discrimination in employment especially as regards to equal pay for equal work. It also introduced a lot of benefits for women such as maternity leave and child care which ensure women are not left behind in employment. However, much still needs to be done and success can only be achieved through the joint efforts of the government and the women themselves. Works Cited Bernhardt, Kathryn. Women and property in China, 960-1949. Stanford University Press, 1999. Burnett, Jamie. Women’s Employment Rights in China: Creating Harmony for Women in the Workforce. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies. 17.2 (2010), 289-320. Engel, John W. Marriage in the Peoples Republic of China: Analysis of a New Law. Journal of Marriage and Family 46 .4(1984): 955–961. Gallup. China Outpaces India for Women in the Workforce. Web. 7 May, 2015. http://www.gallup.com/poll/158501/china-outpaces-india-women-workforce.aspx Hershatter, Gail. Women in China’s Long Twentieth Century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007. Shen, Fan. Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Guard. USA: University of Nebraska, 2004. ILO, "Employment: Table 2C: Total Employment, by Occupation (Thousands)", Laborsta (2010). Read More