Women in the Labor Force in China
Population
- Women are 48.5% of China’s total population of 1,366,718,015. 1
Share of Population by Sex and Age2
- The CIA World Factbook shows the Chinese population having a sex ratio in favor of men, with 106 males per 100 female. 3
- In central China, several provinces --such as Henan, Guangdong, and Anhui-- are characterized by extreme sex ratios that go well beyond 130 male births per 100 female births.4
- In provinces that allow couples to have a second child if their first is a girl, the second child is more likely to be a boy: among second-born children, boys vastly outnumber girls 143 to 100.5
- Only seven provinces and regions have a normal newborn sex ratio (which is 103-107 males for every 100 females):
- Inner Mongolia,
- Heilongjiang, 6
- Guizhou, 7
- Tibet, 8
- Ningxia, 9
- Qinghai, and10
- Xinjiang.11
Sex Ratios of Females to Males in Select Asian Countries, 200812
Educational Achievement
- In 2009,
- 49% of enrolled tertiary students were female13
- 49% of tertiary graduates were female14
- 48.2% of enrolled graduate students were women. 15
- 34.7% of all post-graduate students were women.16
Women in the Chinese Labor Force
- Men continue to outnumber women in the labor force and in management positions.17
Total Labor Force, Manufacturing, 2005 18
- In 2007, 91% of businesses in China had women in their senior management roles. 19
Women’s Economic and Political Participation
- Only 21.3% of all positions on China’s parliament are held by women, ranking it 51st out of 186 countries.20
- In 2003, the Chinese government had 21 women in senior positions, including 14 in the cabinet.21
- Of the 21 women, seven are leaders of the Communist Party of China or the State, and the others are ministers or vice-ministers in the cabinet. 22
- China scored 61st out of 134 countries on the 2010 Global Gender Gap, down from 57 out of 130 in 2008.*23
- The gender pay gap between women and men in China is 70% -- meaning women earned on average 30% less than men for doing similar work.24
Women in Hong Kong
In 1997, an agreement between China and the UK established that Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. In this "one country, two systems," China’s socialist economy is not imposed on Hong Kong, and Hong Kong had autonomy from China in all areas except foreign and defense affairs for the next fifty years.25
- Women are 51.4% of Hong Kong’s population. 26
- In 2009, women were 50.0% of all those enrolled in tertiary programs in Hong Kong. 27
- In 2008, men still outnumbered women at many levels of the labor force in Hong Kong.28
Total Labor Force in Hong Kong29
Legislators, Senior Officials, and Managers30
- In Hong Kong, on the top 42 companies,
- Women held 8.3% of all board seats.31
- 66.7% of companies had at least one woman board director. 32
- 35.7% of companies had more than 1 woman board director. 33
- 33.3% of companies had no women board directors.34
* The Global Gender Gap Index is measured by the World Economic Forum. In 2010 it ranked 134 countries on the size of their gender gap between women and men in four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival.
Sources
1 CIA, "China," CIA World Factbook (2011).
2 CIA, "China," CIA World Factbook (2011).
3 CIA, "China," CIA World Factbook (2011).
4 United Nations Population Fund, "Sex Ratio Imbalance in Asia: Trends, Consequences and Policy Responses."
5 Tania Branigan, "China's Gender Imbalance ‘Likely to Get Worse: Problem of Too Many Men is Exacerbating as Rural Women 'Marry Out' Into Cities’, Says Researcher," The Guardian (2009).
6 China Daily, "China Bans Selective Abortion to Fix Imbalance" (July 16, 2004).
7 China Daily, "China Bans Selective Abortion to Fix Imbalance" (July 16, 2004).
8 China Daily, "China Bans Selective Abortion to Fix Imbalance" (July 16, 2004).
9 China Daily, "China Bans Selective Abortion to Fix Imbalance" (July 16, 2004).
10 China Daily, "China Bans Selective Abortion to Fix Imbalance" (July 16, 2004).
11 China Daily, "China Bans Selective Abortion to Fix Imbalance" (July 16, 2004).
12 World Bank, "Sex Ratio at Birth: Females per 1,000 Males," Gender Stats.
13 World Bank, "Enrollment in Total Tertiary: Public and Private: Full and Part Time: Female" and "Enrollment in Total Tertiary: Public and Private: Full and Part Time: Total" Education Stats (2011).
14 World Bank, "Female Tertiary Graduates as a Percentage of All Tertiary Graduates (ICSED 5)," Education Stats (2011).
15 Sun Yuting, "Women's Status Improving in China," All-China Women’s Federation (2010).
16 Sun Yuting, "Women's Status Improving in China," All-China Women’s Federation (2010).
17 ILO, Laborsta (2010).
18 ILO, "Employment: 2C, Total Employment by Occupation (Thousands)", Laborsta (2010).
19 Grant Thornton, International Business Report 2007: Global Overview (2007).
20 Inter-Parliamentary Union, "Women in National Parliaments" (May 31, 2010).
21 China Daily, "21 Women Work in Senior Chinese Government Positions" (2003).
22 China Daily, "21 Women Work in Senior Chinese Government Positions" (2003).
23 Ricardo Hausmann, Laura D. Tyson, and Saadia Zahidi, Global Gender Gap Report: 2010, World Economic Forum (2010).
23 Ricardo Hausmann, Laura D. Tyson, and Saadia Zahidi, Global Gender Gap Report: 2010, World Economic Forum (2010).
25 CIA World Factbook, "Hong Kong" (2011).
26 CIA World Factbook, "Hong Kong" (2011).
27 World Bank, Education Stats (2011).
28 ILO, Laborsta (2010).
29 ILO, "Table 1D: Economically Active Population by Industry and Status in Employment," Laborsta (2010).
30 ILO, "Table 1D: Economically Active Population by Industry and Status in Employment," Laborsta (2010).
31 GovernanceMetrics International, Women on Boards: A Statistical Review by Country, Sector, and Supersector (2010).
32 Shalini Mahtani and Kate Vernn, Community Business and Dr. Ruth Sealy, Cranfield School of Management, Women on Boards: Hang Seng Index 2009 (2009).
33 Shalini Mahtani and Kate Vernn, Community Business and Dr. Ruth Sealy, Cranfield School of Management, Women on Boards: Hang Seng Index 2009 (2009).
34 Shalini Mahtani and Kate Vernn, Community Business and Dr. Ruth Sealy, Cranfield School of Management, Women on Boards: Hang Seng Index 2009 (2009).
UPDATED August 11, 2011
