Women’s Economic Empowerment in China: Pathways and challenges

Xiao-yuan DongNew Delhi Workshop November 11-12, 2013

Comparative Strengths and Common Challenges

• Devaki Jain: Chinese women have apparently fared better than their sisters in India in terms of health, education and economic opportunities, whereas women in India are more active politically and have exerted a greater influence in the policy process than do women in China.

• How can women in the two countries get both and move forward both economically and politically?

• What can we learn from each other? And what common challenges do we face for achieving gender equality?

Economic participation and opportunity

China India

Women Men W/M Women Men W/M

Labor force participation (%)

74 85 0.88 35 85 0.42

Wage equality for similar work

0.66 0.62

Estimated earned income $PPP

6,592 10,156 0.65 1,530 5,635 0.27

Women’s share in wage employment in non-agricultural sectors (%)

39 18

Legislators, officials and managers (%)

17 83 0.20 NA NA

Professional and technical workers (%)

52 48 1.08 NA NA

Source: World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index 2012

Education and health China India

Women Men W/M Women Men W/M

Literacy rate (%) 91 97 0.94 51 75 0.68

Enrolment in primary education (%)

97 96 1.01 92 93 0.99

Enrolment in secondary education (%)

0.97 0.79

Enrolment in tertiary education (%)

27 25 1.10 15 21 0.73

Healthy life expectancy (years)

68 65 1.05 57 56 1.02

Maternal mortality /100,000 live births

37 200

Source: World Economic Forum gender Gap Index 2012

Political empowermentChina India

Women Men W/M Women Men W/M

Women in parliament (%)

21 79 0.27 11 89 0.12

Women in ministerial positions (%)

12 88 0.13 10 90 0.11

Years with female head of state (last 50 years)

4 46 0.08 19 31 0.61

In India, a 33-percent quota was set for women to lead the village councils in the 1990s and the quota is now raised to 50 percent.

In China, women will account for 30 percent of the village committee members and 10 percent of the village leaders by 2020, according to China’s Women Development Program (2010-2020).

Sex discrimination against women is still pervasive in both countries

Source: World Values Survey Databank

Gender gap in survival and “missing women”

China India

Female-male ratio at birth 0.88 0.89

Female-male ratio in the population 0.926 0.937

Excess female deaths by age (1,000) in 2000

At birth 644 184

0 – 5 132 310

5 – 19 1 170

20 – 39 75 248

40 – 64 166 234

65 + 709 566

Total (MW) 1,727 1,712

% female population 0.31 0.34

Consequences of sex imbalance: Violence against women, spread of STDs

Source: : U.S. Census Bureau, International Database.

Chinese women’s economic empowerment: pathways and challenges • The Socialist Legacy • During Maoist era, the labor system was modeled in accordance

with the theory of Marx that social production is an integrated process of the production of material products and the reproduction of human being themselves.

• The socialist labor system minimized the market “penalties” that women had to endure for their reproductive role.

• The socialist legacy fundamentally transformed traditional gender relations and created favorable initial conditions for post-reform economic take-off.

• However, the centrally planned system created huge inefficiencies and redundancy and state supports were limited to urban workers.

• At the end of 1970s, the poverty rate in China was much higher than that in India.

Poverty and Income inequality in China and India

Source: World Bank Povalnet

• Economic transition (1978 onward):• Shared poverty is not a characteristics of socialism.• China is in the primary stage of socialism.The priority: Promote economic growth and improving people’s livelihood (发展经济，改善民生）The means: Economic reforms and opening up to foreign trade and investment• The long-term goals: - Quadruple GDP by 2000- Become a middle-income country by 2020 (the 100th anniversary of

the CCP) - Become a developed country by 2050 (the 100th anniversary of the

PRC)

• 1978 – 1991: gradualist phase - Replace the commune system by the household responsibility

system and develop township-village enterprises (TVEs) - Decentralized economic decision making and provide incentives to

managers and workers of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) - Set special economic zones • 1992-2002: radical phrase - “Grasp the large and let go of the small”- Privatization of TVEs - Public-sector restructuring, letting go of 25 million workers - Join the WTO in December 2001- The dismantling of local collective- and employers-based social

welfare systems led to a reversal of trends in poverty alleviation and a sharp increase of inequalities, including gender inequalities.

2002-2012: Emergence of social policy - Develop a people-centered, harmonious society

• Two types of social policies• Reducing inequality- Regional disparity and urban/rural disparity • Increasing social security and labor protection- Minimum income allowance - Medical insurance- Old-age security - Public housing for urban poor - Minimum wages, collective bargaining, and other labor

regulations

2002-2012: Emergence of social policy - Develop a people-centered, harmonious society

Year New social policies and labor market policies

1999 Go west policy

2002 Urban minimum income guarantee program

2003 Reestablishment of rural Cooperative medical systems (CMS)

2004 -2006 Abolishment of agricultural taxes; introduction of comprehensive crop subsidies; free compulsory education in western and central rural areas; public housing for urban poor

2007 onwards Free compulsory education in all rural areas; basic health insurance for all urban residents; CMS for all rural population; rural minimum income guarantee program; rural school children nutrition program, pensions for migrant workers, public housing for urban poor …..

Strengthen labor market regulations; raise the minimum-wages level; establish wage collective bargaining mechanisms ….

Poverty and Income inequality in China

Source: World Bank Povalnet

• How did Chinese male and female workers fare during 2002-2010?

• China joined the WTO in December 2001 and the global financial crisis occurred in 2008.

• The data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) in 2002 and 2010.

• The sample covers 26,563 individuals for 2002 and 30, 418 for 2010 from nine provinces in China.

• The working age population refers to those aged between 16 and 64.

• The main findings: - Labor force participation rates increased for both men and women, but

faster for women than men. - More women than men shifted from agriculture to services and women’s

share in total wage employment in the non-agriculture increased.- The proportion of vulnerable employment in the non-agriculture sector

fell for both men and women, again more for women than men. - Real earnings in the non-agriculture more than doubled, growing faster

for rural workers than urban workers, faster for men than women. - Working poor rates fell dramatically; transfer-payments became more

effective for reducing rural poverty, but remain ineffective for migrant workers.

- More women than men are low-paid workers; low pay rates declined dramatically, more for rural workers than urban workers and more for men than women.

- Overall, the verdicts are positive, although the challenges to gender equality and women’s empowerment remain.

2002 2010

Men Women Men Women

Labor force participation 84.7 73.7 86.0 77.8

Employment-population ratio 81.2 69.5 83.3 74.1

Women’s share in total employment 45.8 45.8

Distribution by sector

Agriculture 24.1 43.7 23.1 36.4

Industry 31.5 21.9 31.2 21.0

Services 44.4 34.4 45.3 42.6

Women’s share in wage employment in the non-agriculture sector

37.9 41.0

% Vulnerable employment in the non-agriculture sector

14.8 16.8 8.9 10.1

2002 2010

Men Women GEG Men Women GEG All workers:

Monthly earnings (yuan) 956 800 16.3% 2,066 1606 22.3%Ratio of 2010 to 2002 2.16 2.01Weekly working hours 49 52 54 53Urban hukou holders:

Monthly earnings (yuan) 1,205 981 18.6% 2,620 1,981 24.4%Ratio of 2010 to 2002 2.09 2.02Weekly working hours 49 49 46 45Migrant workers:

Monthly earnings (yuan) 1,037 670 35.4% 1,959 1,477 24.6% Ratio of 2010 to 2002 1.89 2.20Weekly working hours 70 72 64 64Rural workers:

Monthly earnings (yuan) 649 546 15.9% 1,596 1,229 23.0%Ratio of 2010 to 2002 2.46 2.25 Weekly working hours 43 47 56 55

2002 2010

Pre-transfer Post-transfer Pre-transfer Post-transfer

Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women

All workers: Income/HHYuan/year

4,326 4,975 10,252 12,356

WPR % 35.6 31.5 30.2 29.5 12.8 14.4 9.9 11.2

Urban hukou workers: Income/HHYuan/year

5,758 7,664 14,152 19,029

WPR % 9.4 8.6 3.4 2.5 4.3 4.5 0.9 1.1

Migrant workers: Income/HHYuan/year

6,507 6,507 16,561 16,725

WPR % 8.0 6.4 8.0 6.4 1.9 1.1 1.8 1.2

Rural workers: Income/HHYuan/year

3,318 3,387 5,340 5,730

WPR % 46.3 44.4 45.3 43.4 22.5 23.8 18.6 19.5

2002 2010

Men Women W-M Men Women M-W

All workers:

Low pay rate % 30.7 41.4 10.7 18.4 32.9 14.5

Urban hukou workers:

Low pay rate % 20.4 31.4 11.0 17.1 28.1 11.0

Migrant workers:

Low pay rate % 23.9 46.3 22.4 14.8 32.4 17.6

Rural workers:

Low pay rate % 61.0 68.7 7.7 23.4 42.2 18.8

• What can we learn from China’s success in the post-WTO-entry period?

- Properly managed integration with the global market can help to accelerate the transformation of labor surplus from agriculture to non-agriculture, creating gainful employment for disadvantaged groups.

- Policy measures that address non-gender based inequalities can also have a positive effect on gender equality in the labor market.

- A declining work-age population also helped to ease the downward pressure on wages.

- However, gender-neutral, broad-based development strategies alone are insufficient for eradicating gender inequality in the labor market.

The challenges to women’s economic empowerment in China

1. The concept of gender inequality is poorly understood among mainstream economists and policy makers. 2. The value of unpaid care work is still not recognized and there are no proper recognition and support for women’s unpaid care work from the state, their employers, and their spouses. •Public spending on social services is low, even by developing country standards

a. Public spending on education as share of GDP: China in 2011 is 3.1%, lower than the median level of 3.4% for LICs and 4.9%

for LMICs in early 2000sb. Pre-school enrolment rate (3-6 years):China in 2008: 47% overall, Urban: 75%; Rural: 39.8% Chile in 2006: 75.7%; Mexico in 2008: 93.1%-99.8%

● Enterprises are reluctant to accommodate women’s care giving needs.

3. Traditional patriarchal values become more pervasive in Chinese society.

% agree "Men should play a major role in society while women should play a major role at home" in the 2nd and 3rd surveys of

Chinese Women's Status in 2000 and 2010

Time allocation of working men and women aged between 20 and 49, by sector (hours/week)

Source: 2008 China Time Use Survey

% rural men and women aged between 18 and 64 are troubled By mental health problems in 2010

Source: The Third Survey of Chinese Women’s Status by ACWF

How to reintegrate the care economy with the productive economy in China’s new market economy?

HouseholdsUnpaid care Government Firms and markets

Consumption and investment commodities

Social services and infrastructure

Maintaining social fabric and human capital