Through the gender lens: a comparison of family policy in Sweden and China

Abstract

In this study, Sweden and China's family policies, with a specific focus on their effect on gender equality, are compared. We describe the different goals and objectives of parental/maternity leave and childcare policies. The effect of family policies on gender equality, indicated by equal employment opportunities for women and the gender division of labour in the family in the two countries, is also discussed. A systematic comparison revealed that both countries included the promotion of gender equality in their policy agendas, but they varied in design and implementation. Swedish family policies assume childcare is a public concern, and women's participation in the labour market and men's involvement in childcare are considered to be crucial to achieving gender equality. In contrast, China's family policies emphasize women's participation in the labour market, but overlook the gender division of household work and childcare at home.

摘要: 本文探讨瑞典和中国的家庭政策，特别是两国家庭政策对性别平等的影响。本文首先介绍两国父母/产假和幼儿照顾政策的目标，进而从妇女平等就业机会和家务分工两方面讨论政策对于性别平等的影响。通过系统的比较, 研究发现瑞典和中国在其家庭政策中都寻求促进性别平等，然而两国在家庭政策的设计和实施中存有较大差异。瑞典的家庭政策视幼儿照顾为一个公共政策问题，并认为在妇女参与劳动力市场的同时，男性应该参与家庭育儿。这对实现性别平等是至关重要的。相比之下，中国的家庭政策强调妇女在劳动力市场的参与，但忽视了在家务和育儿上的性别分工。

Keywords::

• family policy
• parental leave
• maternity leave
• childcare
• gender equality
• Sweden
• China

Notes

^1. However, in the socialist period, because the state encompassed all aspects of life, maintaining a family, albeit of less importance, was perceived as contributing to the building of socialism. Women were often given special treatment and lighter workloads in the workplace to accommodate their family demands. Therefore, women's double burden was never perceived as the issue of work/family balance, and the conflict between work and family was not as severe for women as it was in the post-socialist era.

^2. For more information, see the original document (The State Council 1988).

^3. It had been renamed “Special Provisions Concerning the Labour Protection of Female Staff and Workers.” See the original document (The State Council 2012).

^4. In Chinese this is “Guo wu yuan guan yu dang qian kai zhan xue qian jiao yu de ruo gan yi jian”.

^5. Women's economic dependency is measured by the difference in income between the husband's and the wife's relative contribution to the household income. DEP =  (his earning – her earning)/(his earning+her earning).

^6. Multiple factors contributed to a relatively lower economic dependency among women in urban China compared with that in Sweden. Most urban Chinese women work full-time because flexible employment is less available in China. As a result, although the percentage of wives who have no earnings is comparable in both Sweden and urban China, the percentage of Chinese women who have equal earnings to their husbands is dramatically higher in urban China (47.7% in 2002) than in Sweden (15.5% in 1995). Additionally, the one child policy may also contribute to women's relatively higher earnings in urban China. The typical mother in Sweden has two children, and has interrupted her work career twice, whereas in China there is typically only one interruption caused by childbirth.