Background Statistics
Gender inequalities in the labor markets increased when Gender inequalities became one of the key principals of societal organization. In 2011 China ranked 35th on the united nations Development Program's gender Inequality index among 142 countries. Women's labor force participation rate was 64.7% compared to 79.7% for men.
Mao Era
In the era of Mao, the constitution of the People's Republic of China enacted in 1954 expressly stated that Chinese men and women should have equal rights as well as equal pay. In order to do so, China's communist party had to take various measures to liberate women. It is still however a problem that is existing today. Such as Chinese women being segregated based on their sex in order to obtain certain occupations. For example, men would be undertook to do the primary jobs and the women would be lucky just to do the secondary jobs.
Current Statistics
A survey of the status of Chinese women in 1990 found that the average monthly income of male workers in urban areas is 193.15 Yuan,while the average monthly income of female workers in urban settings is 149.60 Yuan. The inequalities of earnings is not just a problem but a struggle for many Chinese women. The struggle is not just trying to acquire an occupation but trying to keep it. During the year 1990 , Chinese Women were laid off in greater numbers than Chinese men. The reason for this is that the textile industry was affected by the economic reform in the 1990's which had a higher proportion of women workers thus greater lay offs of women workers.
One child policy
Gender inequality may seem like an unimportant problem but it is quite severe, especially when it comes into play for children. The "One Child" policy is a law where a family can only have one child; to decrease Chinese population rate. This policy however can push baby girls to the street or neglected/abandoned. If a mother has her one child and it was a girl, she would most likely decide not to keep it. The reason for this is because traditional Chinese parents would much prefer a boy so he could do the rough work and can take care of his parents as they age. The unwanted little baby girls are often placed in a box for someone to find them, beat and neglected or sometimes fortunately put in an orphanage.
Overall gender inequality
In present day China, women's rights have evolved in to some positives; such as granting them the right to divorce and to equally work with men. This has been considered and put to law. However More men are still currently employed than women. The practice of the One Child policy is still continued today and most Chinese women are still having the role of cleaning and doing manual labor.http://genderinequalityinchina.blogspot.com/ http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/cw/192647.htm