Women's Welfare Sees Big Progress in 40 Yrs of Reform, Opening-Up

The development of women's welfare has achieved outstanding results in China since the country's reform and opening-up drive was introduced in 1978, according to a leading expert.

During this time, recognition and attention toward the issue has increased and enterprises have done more to share their social responsibility.

Reform and opening-up has greatly promoted the rapid development of the socialist market economy. The sustained growth has provided a better material basis for women's welfare.

The welfare system has established a people-oriented welfare concept and adhered to the concept of scientific development, which has brought about unprecedented opportunities for women.

Thanks to reform and opening-up, people have created immeasurable material wealth. Meanwhile initiatives such as the household responsibility system have provided a mechanism and material guarantee for the welfare of families.

In townships and cities, the implementation of the economic responsibility system and the regulating effect of the market has also enhanced the management of business and the market awareness of enterprises, which has promoted economic development.

For example, GDP grew rapidly and doubled in less than 10 years from 1978-1986. In 1978, the GDP was 364.5 billion yuan. It reached 82.71 trillion yuan in 2017, and has provided better material support to establish a social security system covering urban and rural residents.

People-oriented, Socialized Women's Welfare System

The concept of social security was first proposed in the national seventh Five-Year Plan in 1986, which led to the transformation of the social security system from individual responsibility to the state and related units. It also contributed to the exploration and construction of the socialization of women's welfare.

Women's welfare has achieved institutional protection, and relies less on units and families. Since reform and opening-up, social security has achieved social co-ordination. It has also been handled by specialized agencies.

The country has gradually established medical and pension protections covering residents, thus women's enjoyment of welfare have become a basic right.

In the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the Party has made fairness and justice a social consensus, and gender equality has gradually been incorporated into various institutional policies of social development.

Women's welfare, which aims to promote social equity and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, is also an important means of promoting fairness and justice in our country, especially between the two sexes.

In addition, the Party and the country has attached importance to people's livelihoods. It has considered the common development of men and women as an important goal of the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

They also provided a sound environment to comparatively underprivileged women in employment and social security, which promoted women's shared achievement of social development.

Since reform and opening-up, the country has paid more attention to guaranteeing women's rights and interests, and has promulgated a series of regulations and social policies related to women's welfare.

For example, the Law on the Promotion of Employment and the Labor Contract Law have both included provisions on promoting gender equity, providing a fundamental legal guarantee for the development of women's welfare.

In addition, social security as the responsibility of the State, enterprises and individuals has provided a more effective protection mechanism for women's welfare.

Valid Experience

Since the mid-80s, the country has paid more and more attention to the reform and construction of social security specializing in constantly improving the basic pension and medical insurance systems; and, increasing investment in social assistance, welfare and minimum living security.

They also comprehensively popularized basic medical insurance and carried out a pilot scheme on the comprehensive implementation of endowment insurance for urban and rural residents, which further protected women's rights and interests.

The basic realization of full coverage for the pension and medical insurance system has guaranteed the basic life quality of women after they retired from their posts due to old age or illness. This has also narrowed the gender gap in the labor market to some extent.

The coverage of maternity protection has increased substantially, which has protected women's rights and social status, and also highlighted the system that reflects women's social value, guaranteeing fair competition, and improving quality of life for the overall population.

For example, the proportion of women who were able to enjoy paid maternity leave in 1990 was 32.4 percent. In 2010, 62 percent of women were offered paid maternity leave.

Moreover, the national delivery-in-hospitals rate reached 99.8 percent in 2016 including 100 percent in cities and 99.6 percent in rural areas.

By implementing the large-scale and targeted poverty alleviation and development plan, the government has drastically reduced the impoverished population in rural areas where women are the majority, and guaranteed women's basic right to live.

According to the data, the occurrence rate of poverty among the female population in key national poverty alleviation counties fell from 24.2 percent in 2002 to 9.8 percent in 2010. The rural impoverished population in the country was 30.46 million in 2017, a decrease of nearly 140 million from 2010, in which half were female.
 
Huang Guixia is associate researcher at the Women's Studies Institute of China.

(Source: Cnwomen.com.cn/ Translated and edited by Women of China)