Abstract

PIP: Women's conditions in China are viewed as deteriorating. The reduction in government control over urban factories and other places of employment has resulted in fewer women being hired. This leaves women in positions with low wages, poor working conditions, and discrimination based on sex, age, and marital status. The shift from rural state-controlled agricultural collectives to patriarchal family controls resulted in land distribution that gave men preference. The rapid growth in the economy and higher standards of living placed women at risk. Although the pressures to kill girl babies have relaxed, there is growing interest in making money from abducting and selling women for prostitution, marriage, and slavery. Women gained in recent decades greater participation in the labor force and higher educational levels. Women's access to health care is better. Female life expectancy is 72 years compared to 69 years for men. Maternal mortality is 95 deaths per 100,000 live births. Yet women hold subordinate positions to men in their jobs, and women are segregated in the textile and service industries. Women in rural areas have primarily access to agricultural jobs, which can be combined with child care. Women are less likely to be promoted and are retired 5 years earlier than men. Women carry a double burden of domestic labor and paid or unpaid labor. Women still have higher illiteracy rates than men, and the gender gap in higher education has remained stable since the 1970s. The imbalanced sex ratio is increasing. In some provinces it is 114 males for every 100 females, when the normal ratio is 105-106 males per 100 females. An estimated 12% of females are unaccounted for each year. The reasons for the missing children are identified as sex-selective abortion, infanticide, or underreporting. The next five-year plan holds the hope for improvement in women's status and an end to abuses against women and children.