Fertility Policy: The Hidden Trap of Female Employment

Abstract

As the only country in the world to have a fertility policy, the impact of China's fertility policy has been the focus of research by scholars. With several changes in China's fertility policy, some scholars have critically analyzed the employment impact of several fertility policies on women. However, these studies lack a temporal framework to identify the dynamic impact of the policy change on women's employment from a historical perspective. This paper, therefore, explores the impact of changes in China's fertility policies on women's employment through a historical institutionalist research paradigm by collecting the content of fertility policies and their impact on women's employment since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The study shows that fertility issues have become an important determinant of women's employment and that government efforts to support fertility policies are essential in creating a favorable employment environment for women. This paper introduces several changes to China's fertility policy, followed by this paper's analysis of the negative impact of the fertility policy on women's employment. Finally, this paper makes recommendations on how to mitigate the negative impact of fertility policies on women's employment. This paper exposes the contradictory relationship between childbirth and female employment due to the formulation of fertility policies and the lack of supporting governmental action. The analysis also highlights the impact of historical policies on the present and the future.