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    Gender Equality and the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People's Republic of China
    Gender Equality and the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People's Republic of China
    Gender Equality and the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People's Republic of China
    Ebook194 pages2 hours

    Gender Equality and the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People's Republic of China

    By Asian Development Bank and International Labour Office

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    About this ebook

    The People's Republic of China (PRC) has made advances in narrowing gender gaps in its labor market. It has one of the highest female labor force participation rates in Asia and the Pacific at around 64% in 2013, and one of the narrowest earnings gender gaps. This study investigates how women are faring in the transition to the PRC's new growth model, and what can be done to promote women's participation. It shows how the PRC is undergoing multiple transitions that have implications for gender equality and work. For example, during the market transition, gender wage gaps and gender wage discrimination increased, reaching 33% in urban areas and 44% in rural areas. Find out how evidenced-based gender analysis can foster gender responsive policy approaches to promote women's equality in the labor market.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAsian Development Bank
    Release dateAug 1, 2017
    ISBN9789292579005
    Gender Equality and the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People's Republic of China

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      Book preview

      Gender Equality and the Labor Market - Asian Development Bank

      GENDER EQUALITY AND THE LABOR MARKET

      WOMEN, WORK, AND MIGRATION IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

      Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

      © 2017 Asian Development Bank

      6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines

      Tel +63 2 632 4444; Fax +63 2 636 2444

      www.adb.org

      Some rights reserved. Published in 2017.

      ISBN 978-92-9257-899-2 (Print), 978-92-9257-900-5 (e-ISBN)

      Publication Stock No. TCS178937-2

      DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS178937-2

      The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies nor constitute an endorsement by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or the International Labour Office (ILO), or their respective Board of Governors or the governments they represent.

      Neither ADB nor ILO guarantees the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use.

      By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term country in this document, neither ADB nor ILO intends to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

      The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ADB or ILO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

      This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be bound by the terms of this license.

      This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributed to another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it. ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material.

      Please contact pubsmarketing@adb.org if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wish to obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to use the ADB logo.

      Notes:

      In this publication, $ refers to US dollars.

      ADB recognizes China as the People’s Republic of China.

      Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda

      Contents

      Tables, Figures, and Boxes

      Tables

      Figures

      Boxes

      Foreword

      In November 2016, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and national partner, the Beijing Normal University, Department of Social Policy shared the findings of this ADB and ILO joint study on Promoting Gender Equality in the Labor Market: Women, Work, and Migration in the People’s Republic of China at a national workshop. We would like to extend our thanks to Professor Xu Yuebin and his team at the Beijing Normal University for hosting this workshop and enabling the findings of the study to be shared with a wide range of stakeholders.

      The background to this joint study is an increasing international body of literature that clearly demonstrates that gender equality is not just an equity issue; it inhibits progress for national economies as well as individual women (and men). The 2016 ADB study, A Model of Gender Inequality and Economic Growth, models the significant economic benefits of removing gender inequality in regional economies. The study estimated that per capita income would rise by 30.6% after one generation, and 71.1% after two, by improving women’s and girls’ time use allocation, promoting education and training, and increasing women’s labor market participation.

      The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has made significant advances in narrowing gender gaps in its labor market. It has one of the highest female labor force participation rates in the Asia and Pacific region, at around 64% in 2013, and one of the narrowest earnings gender gaps. The PRC has recognized the importance of gender equality in the labor market in its 5-year development plans, the recent White Paper on Gender Equality, specific legislation, and government machinery to implement specific policies and regulations. It has also been at the forefront in Asia of passing good legislation to promote women’s equality. The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, which clearly prohibits gender discrimination in employment, was passed some 25 years ago. The PRC ratified the relevant fundamental labor standards more than a decade ago: the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) in 1990, and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) in 2006.

      The PRC is committed to the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which contain a stand-alone goal on gender equality, SDG 5, and specific actions and targets for promoting gender equality in the labor market. SDG Goal 8 is very clear: by 2030, it seeks to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for equal work of equal value. SDG 8 commits countries to protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment. Together, these SDGs seek to ensure gender equality in employment and, in particular, the protection and promotion of the rights of women migrant workers.

      This study looks beneath the surface of these considerable gains, to investigate how women are faring in the transition to the PRC’s new growth model, and what can be done to promote their participation. It shows how the PRC is undergoing multiple transitions, with complex implications for gender equality and work. It demonstrates how each of the four transitions: market, structural, growth, and demographic, has had an impact on the labor market, and provides evidence of areas where gender inequality remains, and where this inequality is increasing. For example, during the market transition, gender wage gaps and gender wage discrimination increased, reaching 33% in urban areas and 44% in rural areas. The structural transition from agriculture to industry and services was accompanied by a very large rural to urban migration, generating 274 million migrants in 2014 (some 34% of the economically active population). Women comprised about a third of the migrants. The interaction of gender norms and the hukou system produced gendered migration patterns that reflect who migrates, motivations, and outcomes. The study also highlights the particular challenges facing women migrant workers. They tend to be at the bottom rung of the economic ladder, with higher rates of vulnerable employment, lower earnings than men migrants, and less social protection. They are less able to pursue occupational advancement, and they endure poorer working conditions. Migrant mothers face further challenges in combining paid and unpaid work, and, like nonmigrant women workers, endure a motherhood penalty if they have young children. Some of the recommendations emanating from this ADB and ILO joint study include: rethinking the provision of care for a rapidly aging population so the burden is shared more equally between men and women, adopting measures to address sex segregation in the labor force, addressing gender wage discrimination, expanding protections for workers that will benefit women, systematically collecting and publishing sex-disaggregated data, and undertaking specific research studies to address gaps in the literature.

      We hope that this study and its recommendations will provide useful inputs into this important reform agenda.

      Benedict Bingham

      Country Director

      People’s Republic of China Resident Mission

      Asian Development Bank

      Tim De Meyer

      Country Director

      ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia

      International Labour Organization

      Acknowledgments

      We would like to thank the author, Fiona MacPhail, Professor of Economics, University of Northern British Columbia, for her expertise and dedication in writing this technical note. Appreciation is also extended to Imrana Jalal and Wendy Walker of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Joni Simpson of the International Labour Organization for their overall guidance and

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