The Situation of
Women in China
Johannes Jütting and
Theodora Xenogiani
27 November 2007
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Rankings of gender equality
China is “in the middle” according
to rankings published in 2006
UNDP – Gender-related Development Index: 64 (out of 136)
World Economic Forum - Gender Gap Index: 63 (out of 115)
OECD - Social Institutions and Gender Index: 66 (out of 117)
Ratio of female to male adult literacy
(>15 years)
Maternal Mortality Ratio
(per 100,000 live births)
600
1
500
0.8
400
0.6
300
0.4
200
0.2
100
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Malaysia
Thailand
China
Viet Nam
Philippine
s
India
Share of women in wage employment in
the non-agricultural sector
(in % of total)
Indonesi
a
0
India
China
Indonesia
Viet Nam
Malaysia
Thailand
Philippines
0
Women in Parliament
(as % of total)
30
25
20
15
10
Source: Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (2007), OECD
India
Malaysia
Thailand
Indonesi
a
Philippine
s
China
0
Viet Nam
India
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
China
Thailand
Viet Nam
5
Early Marriage
(% of girls between 15 and 19 years of age who
are currently married, divorced or widowed)
Thailand
Philippin
es
Indonesi
a
China
Women‘s Access to Land
(land ownership is not possible
for women = 1)
Violence Against Women
(absence of any legislation on violence
against women = 1)
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
Viet
Nam
Malaysia
India
China
Malaysia
Viet Nam
Philippines
Indonesia
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.1
Source: Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (2007), OECD
Thailand
Philippine
s
Malaysia
Indonesia
0
China
Philippines
Thailand
India
Malaysia
China
Indonesia
Viet Nam
0
Viet Nam
0.3
India
0.8
Thailand
India
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Inheritance Practices
(male heirs are favoured = 1)
A comparison with India
GDP pc, current prices (US$); and female adult literacy rate (%)
US$
%
1600
100
90
1400
China – literacy (%)
80
1200
China – GDP (US$)
70
1000
60
India – literacy (%)
800
50
India – GDP (%)
40
600
30
400
20
200
10
0
0
1992
1999
2004
Challenges & Concerns in China
• Patriarchal traditions persist in many
spheres of the Chinese society.
• Feminization of poverty, in both rural and
urban areas.
• Inequality in the labour market (income
gaps, hiring/firing, women are obliged to
retire earlier than men).
Challenges & Concerns in China
• Female primary enrolment rates have
increased, but female higher education
rates lag behind.
• The political participation of women is low,
particularly at the local level.
• Abnormal sex ratios: preference for male
offspring.
Looking ahead
• Reforms of legal structures
- Monitoring systems to ensure that changes take place
• Empowerment of women
- More participation of women in decision-making on community
level (example: quota in India)
• Encourage sex-disaggregated data collection
• Research should better analyse the role of social
institutions, so that policies can address them
more effectively
China and Social Institutions
•
Assessment of the role of “social institutions” in
China and their impact on gender equality
•
Determining the impact of change on social
institutions
•
Estimating the economic impact of improving
gender equality
•
Formulate policies to improve gender equality in
China
Thank you!
For more information:
www.oecd.org/dev/gender