Executive summary
This paper examines the transformations of the care economy in post-reform China and their
implications for gender equality and inclusive growth. The first part of research described the
economic and social trends and policy development during the reforms by drawing information
from English and Chinese literature, as well as official documents and statistics.
The analysis
shows that before the reforms during the Maoist era, the State, urban employers and rural
collectives all played a role in care provision. As China embarked on the path of reforms in the
late 1970s, social provisions from the Mao era were dismantled, and care responsibilities shifted
back to the household. Rural-to-urban migration led to many rural children left behind with
grandparents. The one-child policy enacted in 1980 led to steep declines in fertility and a rapidly
aging population. These trends intensified the burden of care on women, particularly those from
disadvantaged groups.
The second part of research studied the distributive consequences of post- reform care policies
and arrangements and the impacts of unpaid care responsibilities on women’s opportunities and
gender equality by using data from ten national representative surveys. The analysis found that
the household-centered care arrangements and absence of public services that have emerged has
increased inequality in access to care services and created care deficits for disadvantaged groups.
The care deficits for children of low-income families are contributing to transmission of
disadvantages from parents to children.
The analysis also found that unpaid care responsibilities limit women’s ability to participate fully
in the economy and contribute to greater gender inequalities in in labor force participation, offfarm employment, earnings and pensions, and the impacts of unpaid care work vary by age,
ethnicity and residential status. Moreover, women’s mental health is worse than men’s and
women’s double burden and higher workload is a significant correlate of the gender gap in mental
health.
The findings generated from the project suggest that the lack of recognition for unpaid care work
in public policy is an important cause of growing socioeconomic inequalities and gender
inequalities in particular in post-reform China. The paper concludes with five policy
recommendations for lessening the burden of care on women and reducing care deficits
experienced by disadvantaged groups.
https://genderlibrary.org/a/images/papers/April%202018%20pg1.pdf