China claims to want women to have children and a career

中国声称希望女性既能生育,又能事业有成。

Economist

2025-08-14

4 分钟
PDF

单集文稿 ...

  • Working mothers.

  • Hardly having it all.

  • Mum jobs offer flexibility and rather a lot of frustration.

  • When Ms Wang returned to work at a Chinese internet giant after having a baby,

  • her boss pulled her aside.

  • She told her she'd be less invested in her work

  • because the country's breastfeeding policy would allow her to leave one hour earlier.

  • I'll be a normal colleague, not a breastfeeding mother,

  • she replied, staying past 10pm regularly like the rest.

  • Based in Beijing, she was entitled legally to 158 days of maternity leave,

  • but she received the worst performance rating in her team last year

  • because others had to cover her work while she was away.

  • She was fired in April.

  • Meanwhile, the government is trying desperately to boost China's birth rate.

  • On July 28, it announced that it would give households 3,600 yuan,

  • $500, a year for each child under the age of three.

  • Economists estimate the subsidy will cost the state about 100 billion yuan a year,

  • or about 0.07% of the country's GDP.

  • And it promotes mum jobs,

  • which offer mothers with children under the age of 12 more flexible work schedules.