Chinese Women and the New Economy, By Karen Kaigler-Walker.   In 1999, at the invitation of the All China Women’s Federation, a womb-to-tomb NGO (Non Governmental Organization) dedicated to the welfare of Chinese women, I participated in a dialogue between American women business leaders, educators, physicians, social service providers, and our counterparts in four Chinese cities.  What our delegation discovered was sobering.  As history attests, during economic uncertainty and change, women often bear the brunt.

As China hurls headlong towards creating perhaps the world’s most wide-open market economy, Chinese women have experienced a roller-coaster ride.  Although the adage that “women hold up half the sky” held sway during the old system, wherein women’s rights to equal employment, education, legal and social services were protected, by the end of the 20th century, the market economy mentality had weakened women’s position.    In the wake of the economic shift, millions of girls were ousted from a strapped educational system and millions of women lost their jobs.

The loss of jobs led to the loss of housing, medical care, and economic security in old age.  Divorce rates equaled those in the West.    For the first time, China witnessed a growing population of single mothers and female-headed households.    While the All China Women’s Federation was optimistic about China’s future and the roles women would play in the new millennium, hard issues were on the table and much work was needed to assure that women and children wouldn’t end up as road kill along the highway to a better economy.

What I discovered when I returned to China five years later to present a paper at the Fourth China-US Conference on Women’s Issues, astounded me.

Although problems remained in 2004, the situation seemed anything but dire.  The percentage of girls enrolled in primary and secondary schools had risen remarkably.  Women represented 43 percent of college students nationally and over 50 percent in Shanghai.  The newly enacted Article 48 of the Constitution stipulated women’s equality under the law and protected minors.  Local, provincial, and national governments had established women-friendly judicial systems.

A national Marriage and Family Law addressed domestic violence.  And while women still did not have full parity in wages, laws supported the equality of women in the workforce and provided a guaranteed maternity leave.  A revised social security network offered medical, pension, and unemployment insurance along with a minimum wage.    What loomed clearer in 2004 was that although the economic and social changes of the past twenty years had been difficult, they simultaneously had provided new opportunities for women.  And in facing the difficulties, many women had developed a tough resolve to create a new way of life that was paying off.

Women represented 46 percent of China’s workforce, with much of the turnaround attributed to aggressive retraining.  The feminization of agriculture offered rural women the opportunity to produce cash crops and cater to a growing influx of tourists.    Chinese women entrepreneurs tend to hire other women.  As a result, 60 percent of the workforce in women-owned businesses are women.  Fifty-six percent of women entrepreneurs had a college degree.     Close to one-third of women-owned businesses had ongoing research and development relationships with scientific institutions and universities.  An astonishing 96 percent of women-owned businesses were profitable.

I’ve made four trips to China since 2004, and in all quarters, women continue to make professional and social strides.    So while the economic and social shifts early-on exacted a toll on women, they currently are weathering the setbacks with an adaptability, ingenuity, steadfastness, and courage that provide a lesson in strength to us all.   Copyright Karen Kaigler-Walker 2006 All Rights Reserved   About the author:   Karen Kaigler-Walker, Ph.D. is Chair of the Department of Marketing at Woodbury University and professor of marketing and psychology.  She is an adjunct professor of women’s spirituality at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA and serves on the executive board of the Educational and Cultural Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization that builds and supports orphanages, schools, after school nutrition/educational centers, senior citizen facilities and seminaries throughout Asia.  Currently she is filming a documentary on the role of women in the Chinese Christian community. Contact:  karen.kaigler-walker@woodbury.edu.