Employment of Chinese Women

Since 1949, the number of employed women in China has been going up steadily. In 1949, there were only 600,000 female staff and workers, constituting 7.5% of the workforce; by 1991 the number had risen to 55 million, or 38% of the workforce. Moreover, the sphere of women’s employment has grown enormously; female workers and employees can be found in all sectors of the national economy, in industry, commerce, the service trades, communications and transportation, post and telecommunications, the construction industry, agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, culture and education, public health, scientific research, finance and insurance, and urban public services. With the increase in the employment ratio of women in society, large numbers of outstanding professional women have emerged in all walks of life, especially since 1979, when China began the economic reform and opening up to the outside world. Now in the scientific and technological field alone, there are more than 10 million female specialists.

In rural areas, with the adoption of the various contracted household responsibility systems with remuneration linked to output, women have gained more opportunities to give full play to their talents and special skills. They are playing a significant role in many areas, especially in promoting the development of a diversified economy. By 1992, 340,000 women had acquired certificates of peasant technicians. In recent years, with the development of township-run enterprises, 13 million women have become non-agricultural workers.

Involvement in market economy has brought about a market increase in women’s income. According to some surveys conducted by women’s federations, the ratio between the incomes of the wife and the husband was 45 to 100 in the 1950s, whereas in the 1980s, it became 92 to 100. In some professions and some areas along the east coast, some women are earning more money than their husbands. The improvement of women’s economic status has led to the improvement of their status in the family as well as in the society.

The reform has given new opportunities to women in employment, but it has also brought new problems. New opportunities often mean a heavier workload than before for women, for they are still burdened with housework and child care. In some rural areas, women are holding well over half of the sky—they do 60 to 80% of the farm work, as the men have gone to work in cities. In cities, women account for 70% of those rejected by factories and enterprises in the latter’s efforts to “optimize the work team.” Furthermore, many women now find that do not have the professional qualifications to compete with men for the newly created jobs. Feeling keenly their inadequacy, Chinese women are trying to raise their educational level in every possible way.