From One to Three: China’s Motherhood Dilemma and Obstacle to Gender Equality

Fang Gao,Xia Li

doi:10.3390/women1040022

Abstract

The implementation of China’s three-child policy has prompted considerable attention and discussion. From “one child” to “two-child” to “three-child,” the Chinese government has considered the macro population structure in previous reproductive policy adjustments while ignoring the difficulties and necessities of parenting. The child-rearing costs that should have been shared by the family and the state are left to be shouldered by the family alone. Gender equality and women’s development have lagged, while the traditional role of women and the sharing of family responsibilities between men and women have stagnated. The easing of the fertility policy will increase the frequency of childbirth and result in greater difficulties faced by women in the workplace. Childbirth negatively impacts women’s wages, and as its intensity continues to increase, so does the problem of maternal punishment. This study presents situations that illuminate the plight of Chinese mothers. Solving the motherhood dilemma cannot be achieved by making a mother choose between prioritizing herself or her child. Only by detaching privatization from motherhood, returning to public politicization, treating gender equality promotion as only the starting point, and strengthening social support and public service can the motherhood dilemma truly be resolved.

Highlights

The ongoing debate on motherhood and gender equality in China has become an important source for researchers to understand the prevalent ideology of motherhood and the current situation of women, and to examine the social and cultural pressures they face
The United Nations (UN) held a development summit in September 2015 to assess the progress of the Millennium Development Goals set at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 and to adopt a post-2015 development agenda to guide cooperation in international development over the 15 years
“A focus on unpaid care and domestic work, with governments investing in the provision of public services, infrastructure and related policies to promote the sharing of domestic work within the family” was included in this agenda [69]

Summary

Introduction

The ongoing debate on motherhood and gender equality in China has become an important source for researchers to understand the prevalent ideology of motherhood and the current situation of women, and to examine the social and cultural pressures they face. Women 2021, 1 topic in both old and new media in China [3,9,10,11] This change is based on globalization, the separation of the public and private affairs between the state and family, the return of the gendered division of labor in the labor market and family, and the entry of the new urban middle class and one-child generation. Mothers must take responsibility for the care of their children, and become omniscient and omnipotent “educator mothers” [13] This idea reveals the dilemma of integrating women’s subjectivity as individuals with their motherhood-related identities. By delving into fertility-related policies, the number of children mandated by the state and social realities, this study will deepen and expand our present understanding of the concepts of motherhood and family. We review the latest policy decisions made by the government on fertility and reproduction, and the condition of mothers in a recently opened economy

Fertility Policies in China and the Private Dilemma of Motherhood

Cultural Factors

State Factors

Findings

Conclusion