Voices of Older Ethnic Mongolian Women in Rural China: Economic and Social Contexts

Abstract

China introduced economic reforms to move from a planned to a market economy in 1978. In 1947, the autonomous region of Mongolia, home to more than 5 million ethnic Mongols, was designated in North China. As one of the groups witnessing economic and social changes in China, older ethnic Mongolian women have benefitted in some ways. In this study, 6 ethnic Mongolian women, ages 45 to 78, were interviewed in 3 stages and asked about economic changes, cultural shifts in family role, self-concept, and access to social welfare. Economic reform may have given these women land to farm and graze, but it made limited social welfare provisions for them beyond their ability to work or for circumstances in which their children cannot, or will not, care for them. These findings have implications beyond this study since 45 million women age 65 and over live in rural areas and more than 3 million are ethnic minorities.