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Women and Development - Women and Economic Reform

16 important questions on Women and Development - Women and Economic Reform

Why do rural women have less freedom to migrate to cities?

Married rural women cannot easily migrae because of their responsibilities for child care and the lack of housing for rural families (as they have no urban household registration).

Women in general could less easily migrate because of social concerns for their sexual conduct and reputations, this was far less of a problem for men.

The number of women, even married ones, is however increasing. Married women are now entering the migrant stream when their families need greater cash income.

What kind of jobs do unmarried women usually have when they have migrated into the cities?

They are usually helping in family businesses or providing domestic service or child care if they had help from personal contacts or relatives. It they simply seek their chances and set off, they usually cluster on streets waiting for employers to arrive. They are then usually recruited as domestic servants, but sometimes they are illegally recruited as brides for rural bachelors or as prostitutes.

Why is not surprising that women also migrated for labor opportunities despite the fact that they have less freedom and opportunities in comparison to men?

Village land is controlled by village government and allocated on a per capita basis. Individuals cannot buy or sell shares. Thus, succesful female farmers cannot buy additional land and women who are poor or are inexperienced in farming cannot sell land. In addition, the land is under control of the patrilocal households which women join at marriage; women cannot own it themselves. If women transfer from their parent's to their husband's village, they may not be even be allocated land there. These factors have led to an increase in female migrants.

Which two strategies have women in rural China pursued in response to China's policies toward economic development?

Household commodity production; grow and sell commercial crops. (especially when located near cities and town or with good transportation).
Employment in village industry (e.g. work on assemlby line productions of clothing or electronic products).

How is the market economy more advantageous to women than the former collective system?

In the former collective system women earned working points which were paid to the household head. Under the market economy, women receive individual pay, which they can save up and which allows them to gain economic independence. This is especially the case when they migrate or when their husbands migrate and leave them with greater control over the household.

Despite liberalizing the rural economy in the reform period, the government has tightened control on reproduction. Explain the family planning policy.

The policy permits urban families to have one child. In rural areas this is somewhat less strict. Different rules apply in different rural areas. In some the one-son-or-two-child policy applies, in other areas the families can continue to bear children until they have a son. This depends on what kind of policy local governments enforce.

Why has the Chinese government decided to adopt measures to encourage parents to value and raise daughters?

The government has finally recognized that the one-child-policy has led to an imbalanced sex ratio (118 males to 100 females) and that this is a social problem. It seems that they have mainly adopted these measures out of fear that a future surplus of men will lead to social instability.

How does the one-child policy affect women?

The policy is implemented through direct body controls. Women are tested through X-rays and ultrasounds for pregnancy and abortion and sterilization are measures taken to make sure the policy is lived by.
It accentuates the importance of sons (males) over daughters (females). The policy forces families to confont the risk of having no son at all if their first (and perhaps second) child is a daughter.

Why don't Chinese women experience the family planning policy as completely bad?

Without the policy, women would probably still not be in control of their reproduction. The partiarchal family could force women to bear more children then they want if the policy is dropped.
And most rural women in China wish to bear children until they produce a son. Their sons secures them a position in their husband's families. Legally, a son also owes them economic support in old age.

What factors have led to the escalating demand for bridewealth?

The increased prosperity due to the economic reforms
Greater access to market commodities
Relaxation of communist moral doctrines

Which trends can be spotted in marriages in which the women had a choice?

The brides are more demanding and getting a new house and earlier separation from their husband's family. In addition, they also have greater control over material goods as conditions for marriage.

What can be a negative side effect of protective regulations for women in the labor force?

Because of protective regulations, like retiring five years earlier or prohibiting women from doing certain kinds of work when pregnant or during menstruation, factory managers may choose to dismiss women or to not hire women at all.

In the special economic zones where protective regulations for women are non-existent there is a high proportion of women in the work population. But what are the disadvantages of this situation for women?

They are primarily temporary workers in these economic zones, lacking the benefits and guarantees of state-sector workers.

For what reasons fo some manufacturers prefer women over men?

The only-sons have been pampered and are considered deficient employees in comparison to the daughters. The latter are generally harder-working and tend to stay longer.

How do schools and universities deal with organizations that prefer to hire women over men?

They have set quotas on the number of women that firms can recruit. For every group of women that a company selects, it must also hire a share of men.

What has been the effect of the increased income of women?

It has led to an explosion in the fashion industry, which stimulates women's desire to be attractive. For urban women items like designers clothing and perfumes give them a feeling of participation in the modern world, as their mothers had to wear unisex clothing. For rural migrants these items are symbols of sophisticated urban lifestyles formerly denied them.

Women of this growing, status-concious middle class feel increased pressure to beautify themselves and their houses and seem to mirror Western women's insecurities.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Understanding contemporary China | 9781588268440 | Robert E Gamer

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Women and Development - Women and Economic Reform

16 important questions on Women and Development - Women and Economic Reform

Why do rural women have less freedom to migrate to cities?

What kind of jobs do unmarried women usually have when they have migrated into the cities?

Why is not surprising that women also migrated for labor opportunities despite the fact that they have less freedom and opportunities in comparison to men?

Which two strategies have women in rural China pursued in response to China's policies toward economic development?

How is the market economy more advantageous to women than the former collective system?

Despite liberalizing the rural economy in the reform period, the government has tightened control on reproduction. Explain the family planning policy.

Why has the Chinese government decided to adopt measures to encourage parents to value and raise daughters?

How does the one-child policy affect women?

Why don't Chinese women experience the family planning policy as completely bad?

What factors have led to the escalating demand for bridewealth?

Which trends can be spotted in marriages in which the women had a choice?

What can be a negative side effect of protective regulations for women in the labor force?

In the special economic zones where protective regulations for women are non-existent there is a high proportion of women in the work population. But what are the disadvantages of this situation for women?

For what reasons fo some manufacturers prefer women over men?

How do schools and universities deal with organizations that prefer to hire women over men?

What has been the effect of the increased income of women?

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