Impact of Structural Reform in China on Women’s Employment

	The development of a market economy and the employment structural reform are advantageous to women’s employment in China. Major advantages have been displayed in the following areas:

1.	Changing the traditional concepts of employment for women
Firstly, structural reforms made women abandon the traditional ideas of employment and adopt a realistic attitude toward their jobs. Secondly, with the deepening of reform, actions on women’s employment become reasonable.

2. Structural reforms have promoted economic development and created more jobs for women. The employment rate has been on the rise.
According to the sample survey, at the end of 1996, female employees account for 46.6% of the total, increased by 1.8% than in 1994. In all employed population, female employees in cities and towns account for 45.5%. The number of female workers increases more rapidly than the total number of workers. Expanding of tertiary industry, joint venture enterprises, individual sectors and private enterprises provide more chances for women. During the adjustment of industry structure, employment structure for females becomes reasonable. There are more ways of employment have been explored.

	The economic reform in China has created new ways of employment for women, especially in non-state-owned enterprises. According to statistics investigation in Shanghai, at the end of 1996, 870.7 thousand female workers have been employed in tertiary industry, making up 43.4% of the total number of female workers. And another 287.7 thousand have got employed in non-state-owned enterprises and collective enterprises in rural areas, accounting for 14.3%. The uninterrupted growth of the individual sectors, private enterprises and foreign enterprises has provided more space for women.

3.	Improving the qualification of female employees

The gap between male and female in their educational level becomes less and less obvious. An increasing number of women receiving higher education and a large number of women with strong educational background have been fostered. According to statistics by Guangdong province, in the province’s institutions of higher education, female students made up 25.63% of the undergraduates in 1996. Meanwhile, females have participated in a wider scope of education and through more means. They have been given opportunities to improve their qualification and employability by receiving training.

4.	The structure of industry and profession for women tend to be rational 

Since 1980s’, the number of female workers engaged in transport and communications, commerce and service industries, which are suitable to female workers, has been increased by 80%. At the end of 1994, the employment rate of women in tertiary industry has 9% higher than in 1980s’, and the employment rate in secondary industry has been reduced by 3%. Women can select a good job foe themselves according to their own qualifications.

	From all these we can see that structural reforms are really favorable for women to improve their employment quality.

	At the same time, we should recognize that with the adjustment of the industrial structure and the deepening of the state-owned enterprise reforms, women’s employment could face new problems. It would be unfavorable for women’s employment to a certain extent. The main aspects are as follows:
1.	The employment channel needs to be explored
To a certain extent, the employment position for women has been changed during the structural reform. In the past, a large proportion of women were concentrated on traditional manufacturing industry which was labor-intensive, so as the adjustment of structural industry needs higher performance, the structural contradiction in employment would be revealed. With the development of reform, unemployment has become a more serious problem, especially the enterprises in textile, light industry where female workers make up the majority of the staff. At the end of 1997, the registered unemployment in the country was 5.77 million, among whom 3.04 million were female, accounting for 52.7%. 2.84 million female employees working in state-owned enterprises have been laid off, accounting for 45% of the total laid-off workers. Besides this, as enterprises have to consider their economic returns, they are not willing to recruit female workers.

	So during the adjustment of industry structure, on the one hand, we should expand the tertiary industry, providing more opportunities of employment to women; and on the other hand, we should also change the concept of employment and explore more employment channels.

2.	Working equality with men in employment and training needs to be advocated

In the transition of the economy, some private enterprises do not enforce laws properly. The problem of discrimination against women has not yet been solved completely. The main aspects are: first, inequality in occupations. Women mainly engage in manual work. Second, the situation of unequal pay for equal work still exists. In some individual sectors, the employed women are usually paid 70-80% as much as men.

3.	Labor protection for women should be attached importance
In the structural reform, some enterprises consider their economic returns first and ignore or cut down the standards of labor protection for women, especially in joint ventures and private sectors. 

	In view of these problems, women’s federations and trade unions in China have taken some measures to help unemployed women, and called on government to reduce the unemployment rate and make re-employment projects for unemployed women. From my personal point of view, I would like to make the following suggestions regarding women’s employment.

1.	 To fully recognize women’s role and ability.
2.	 To strengthen the training for unemployed women and to help them find opportunities to get re-employed.
3.	 To pay more attention to the problem of re-employment for unemployed women by providing more favorable conditions for them to start an undertaking.