Inequality for women in China
Women's rights
According to the Constitution, women in China have equal rights in areas including ownership of property, educational opportunities and inheritance. Equality between men and women has been part of the CCP agenda for a number of years and groups such as the All-China Women's Federation have been allowed to campaign for improved rights for women.
Where women's rights conflict with government policy, eg abuses related to family planning, women's rights come second. It is argued that the Chinese authorities do not do enough with regard to domestic violence, the trafficking of women who are sold into prostitution, or about educational or employment discrimination.
For example, there are many more illiterate girls than boys, and women in urban areas earn 22% less than male counterparts.
Women in government
Although there are some women within the CCP they are far from equally represented. According to the World Bank, in 2022, 24.9% of seats in China鈥檚 national parliament were held by women.
The Politburo Standing Committee (the super elite) currently made up of seven men, has never had a female member.
Between 1997 and 2022 the Politburo (the decision-making tier) has had at least one female member. But when the only woman in the Politburo, Sun Chunlan stood down in 2022 she was not replaced by another woman, leaving 24 men in this level of the CCP. This reflects the decline in political and government positions for women, during Xi Jinping鈥檚 leadership.
At Central Committee level, women hold just 30 out of 371 positions, and only two out of 31 provincial governors are women.
The situation in government does not reflect the growing number of Chinese women in high achieving positions and areas of business. Not having women in important government positions means there is a lack of representation in crucial areas including women鈥檚 rights, equal pay, discrimination, and domestic abuse. (Source: Reuters)
Shrinking population
An aging population and a falling birth rate, largely due to over 30 years of the one child policy, has led to a workforce decreasing and a looming pension and elderly care crisis. The government鈥檚 solution is to encourage women not to mix work and having a family, but to concentrate on having children.
Families of up to three children are now permitted, in a bid to increase the younger generation. At the same time, there have been moves to reduce women鈥檚 access to abortion and the divorce process has been made more difficult with the introduction of a 30 day 鈥渃ooling off鈥 period before a divorce becomes formal. (Source: Merics)