Achievements of the China National Program for Women's Development (2011-2020) in Women and the Economy

3. Women and the Economy

3.1) Women account for over 40 percent of the employed population. Since the implementation of the China National Program for Women's Development (2011-2020) (the NPA for Women), policies supporting employment and entrepreneurship have gradually improved, employment channels for women have continuously expanded, and the number of women employed has increased steadily. In 2020, there were 67.79 million female workers in urban work units, an increase of 19.18 million or 39.5 percent from 2010. The proportion of women in the total employed population was 43.5 percent, achieving the 40 percent target outlined in the NPA for Women.

3.2) Labor protection for female employees has been actively strengthened. The Special Provisions on Labor Protection for Female Employees (hereinafter referred to as the Special Provisions), promulgated and implemented since 2012, has promoted the continuous improvement of the working conditions for female employees and effectively safeguarded the legal rights and interests of women in the workforce. In 2020, the proportion of enterprises in China implementing the Special Provisions reached 71.3 percent, an increase of 16.4 percentage points from 2010. 3.3) Poverty alleviation for women in rural areas has achieved a complete victory. After persisting efforts, China has lifted all rural poverty population and all designated poverty counties out of poverty. In particular, the issues of "Two Assurances and Three Guarantees" have been fully realized for populations lifted out of poverty, including women. By the end of 2020, women accounted for about half of the nearly 100 million people lifted out of poverty.

3.4) Government's support for poor women has been continuously strengthened. Since the implementation of the NPA for Women, China has successively introduced a series of policies and measures to expand employment channels for women, improve their skill levels and strengthen their health protection, providing robust support for the poverty alleviation and sustainable development of poor women. In 2020, the average standard of the minimum subsistence allowance (Dibao) in urban and rural areas was 677.6 yuan and 496.9 yuan per month, respectively, which were 2.7 times and 4.2 times that of 2010. The number of urban and rural recipients of Dibao and the number of rural people living in extreme difficulties totaled 48.72 million, of which 20.95 million were women, accounting for 43.0 percent and an increase of 9.1 percentage points from 2010.

(Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China)