Fewer Women Are Willing to Take Jobs
As
experts are busy looking for ways to help laid-off women get
re-employed, an investigation of 2,000 couples, made by the Women's
Federation of Beijing's Haidian District, shows more than 60
percent of the professional women are willing to be full-time
housewives; only more than 30 percent of them are determined to
work until the age of retirement. Some people believe this is a
retrogression of the society, and others think it is a sign of the
social progress.
Full-time housewives (except those laid-off) occupy only 4.5
percent (2.6 percent for women under 40) of the investigated career
women. But among the investigated, 14.8 percent think it is
acceptable to be a full-time housewife; 47.7 percent think it's
possible for them to give up their careers if their husbands can
make enough money to support the family; only 37.5 percent of these
career women are willing to work through to the age of
retirement.
Haidian is a district of high-level economic and cultural
development. The result of the investigation, 62.5 percent career
women prefer to be full-time housewives, disappoints people working
with the Federation. They realize that quite a lot of women have
been working for the purpose of supporting their families, instead
of "improving themselves and raising their social status." "When a
woman gives up her social responsibilities and duties, she also
gives up her rights and dignity. There will be no more equality
between man and woman," some people hold.
Experts: More Full-time Housewives Means Social Progress
He
Liying, an expert with the Beijing Association of Family and
Marriage Researchers, has a different point of view. She said a
recent investigation done by her association shows the lower a
woman's income and educational level, the more she worries about
her position in the family and society if she becomes a full-time
housewife. On the contrary, those who have higher income and more
education do not believe their "going home" will affect their
position in the family. In other words, women in the latter group
value housework, believing taking care of their husbands and
raising children are also an important contribution to society.
Yang Yiyong, a human resources expert and deputy secretary-general
of the China Labor Studies Society, said that statistics show the
value created by American housewives occupies 28 percent of the
nation's GDP. Only when the society fully recognizes the value of
housework, can housewives' social status be truly raised. Many
countries, such as Japan and Holland, have laws to protect the
housewives' rights. In his point of view, equality between men and
women doesn't mean women should do whatever men do, as there will
be clearer work division. Man can also stay home to be a
househusband, though for most men, it's not a suitable job.
Yang believes along with the social progress, people will have more
choices for their spare time. The phenomenon that career women are
willing to become full-time housewives shows today there is more
room for women to choose between their families and careers. It is
absolutely a sign of social progress. At the same time, it shows
these women's marriages are stable, which is a factor of social
stability.
(china.org.cn by Wu Nanlan January 22, 2003)