China Divorces Rising

Dan, this I too found this more interesting for what it says about the changing nature of Chinese society. I lived and worked in China for slightly over five years. I spent my first two years living in a small provincial town in the middle of Jiangsu Province, then I lived in Shanghai for half a year, then Shenzhen for a year and a half, then the Guangdong provincial industrial town of Shunde for six months, then Hangzhou for six months. Throughout this time I also travelled extensively throughout China, and while I don't claim myself as a China "expert" I do feel as though I have at least some authority to speak at least some China-related issues.

One of the first things that struck me about provincial Huai'an, in Jiangsu, was the number of key jobs within local government, and within that city's educational institutions, that were occupied by women. Most of the city's primary and middle schools had female principals, and at the university I taught at the Foreign Affairs Department was run by a woman, and she also happened to be the Party Secretary.

This, in fact, has been the pattern almost everywhere I've been to in China. At the university I taught at in Hangzhou last year, the Head of the Foreign Affairs Department was a woman, and an unusally young woman to be occupying such an important position, the head of the Foreign Languages Department was a woman, and every single language teacher but one were women, as was the Party Secretary. Nearly all of the English teachers were sent to Sydney, Australia, to attend a four week training program last summer vacation, at the university's expense.

At the university I taught at in Shunde, the Head of the Foreign Affairs Department was a woman, as was the Party Secretary, and the person in charge of overseeing the university's international programs was also a woman, and while I was there this time last year she was sent to Sydney for a month at the university's expense to study the teaching methodologies used at the Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE.

When in Shenzhen, I often visited my spouse's aunty and uncle's place (she has relatives all over China!) Both are retired, but it is my spouse's aunty who is the main income-earner. She is a retired high school mathematics teacher, and she receives a monthly pension of 5,000 RMB - that's more than what many foreign native English teachers currently earn in China. I was fortunate, in that I was on a full Australian teacher's salary, as I was employed by the N.S.W. Department of Education and Training to teach programs that TAFE run in joint venture with Chinese universities, but the three American teachers I worked with last semester in Hangzhou were employed directly by the university, and were on monthly salaries of only 4,500 RMB.

Every six months I have my teeth scaled and polished. While I was in Shenzhen, I used the services of a dental clinic located in the Diwang Building (Shenzhen's most famous and easily-recognisable architectural icon) which is part of an American chain, and which employs mostly Chinese female dentists - and they're very professional, having received their training in both the U.S. and on the mainland.

Some Canadian friends of mine in Shenzhen teach for English First - three or four branches are all franchised to the same owners. One of these owners is a woman, and she also manages all three branches, and is known for her toughness!

My spouse is 25 years old. She grew up in a small town in Jiangsu, and attended a college that wasn't ranked high enough to be able to issue Bachelor Degrees, so she at present only has a college certifictae. Yet she was confident enough to seduce me a week after she first met me (my second week in China) and when we moved to Shanghai she found a job on the internet as a secretary for a British finance company within the space of only forty minutes. They paid her 8,000 RMB per month (more than what most native English speakers earn teaching in Shanghai - the Shanghai Finance Collage pays its foreign teachers 5,000 RBM per month, and the Shanghai Teacher's College at that time paid only 4,500 RMB per month.) My spouse, together with two other Chinese female colleagues, also got the chance to travel overseas to Bangkok for work, and in Shenzhen my spouse worked for a German company, which, once again, took her only a total of only 45 minutes to find and to apply for over the internet - she had the contract signed within 24 hours of having first discovered the online advertisment for the position.

I could continue for many more pages like this, but I think you get my point - not all women have it bad here in China, and despite regressions in some areas, generally speaking, the position of urban women is gradually improving. There is plenty of quantitative evidence to support the qualitative examples I just mentioned above too.

Last year for example, The International Forum for Women's Development and Participation in the Economy was hosted in Shanghai by the Shanghai Women's Federation, which heard from representatives from women's associations and female entrepreneurs from eleven countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. They discussed topics such as women�s participation in the economy and society, and their independence.

Research was reported at the conference which found that, "at present, more than 60% of the teachers in elementary schools to universities in Shanghai are female, more than 60% of health workers are female, and the percentage of women in finance topped 50% [back] in 2004. The employment of professional women is directly related to their level of education. The employment rate of urban women with a junior college education or above between 25-49 years old is 91.9%, and their income is much higher than those with lower levels of education. In addition, they have more freedom in choosing their professions."

Not only this, but the number of Chinese female entrepreneurs is also on the increase. The development of the service sector over recent decades has created many employment and business opportunities for Chinese women on the mainland. Research carried out by the China Association of Female Entrepreneurs back in 2004 showed that 20 percent of all Chinese entreprenuers were women. No doubt this figure has grown a little since then. In fact, the total number of female entreprenuers on the mainland grew by a whopping 60 percent between 1996 and 2004. And "over 95 percent of the medium and small enterprises led by female bosses are making profits. By the end of 2002, almost 40 percent of them were achieving annual turnovers of over one million RMB and 7.4 percent among them ten million RMB."

The survey showed that in 2004, "80 percent of the women entrepreneurs on the mainland were aged between 30 and 50."

According to the Christian Science Monitor , "in 1950 women's earnings accounted for 20 percent of family income" on mainland China. In 2004 this figure had risen to 40 percent. "Increasingly, as in most of Asia, girls in China are leading their school classes in grades. More and more go to college and take white-collar jobs."

Urban China's divorce rate is also climbing, as mentioned in the article you link to, which reflects the fact that educated women are often less likely to tolerate philandering, crudity, and unregenerate attitudes of Chinese husbands: "many women have worked hard to secure their jobs, and their identity is less tied to old cultural assumptions of lower self-worth," as Nick Otto of the Christian Science Monitor points out. Back in 2004, a study carried out in Guandong Province showed that divorce rates had tripled, with 74 percent of all divorces the previous year being initiated by women with at least one college degree. (see Christian Science Monitor, December 17, 2004)

Chinese men are no more or less patriarchal and abusive than men anywhere else in the world of course. Women are very often the main power brokers in Chinese households. But the rising divorce rates are a sign of modernity nevertheless, for good or bad, for when women have achieved a reasonable level of economic independence they are more easily able to walk away from unhappy relationships - hence the rising divorce rates, and the high percentage of divorces initiated by women. This is the pattern in all developed countries, and the fact that this pattern has already clearly emerged in many parts of China (like in Guangdong) reflects the fact that many parts of China are already quite well developed. Socio-economic development is always an uneven process, everywhere in the world, and if we take a look at China, we see this in its extemes: Shanghai for example, is as developed as Portugual according to the UN Human Development Index, (which is ranked 25 out of 177 countries) whereas rural Guizhou ranks alongside Namibia (ranked 125 on the index). China as a whole ranks 85, which represents a 20 percent increase since 1990 - which is a very impressive, phenomenal achievement.

Finally, it is worth noting that much of the consumer revolution here on the mainland of China is geared towards the female market, which in itself says a great deal about the new purchasing power of urban Chinese women. I have lost count of how many Chinese women I spotted in the last week I spent in Shenzhen alone, driving about in luxury BMW and Mercedes sports cars, and my former apartment here in Shenzhen was owned by an unmarried, middle-aged local woman, who told us that she owned four such rental properties, all financed by a combination of bank loans and personal savings.

In order to assess the overall situation of women in China, it is necessary to take into account the lives of urban women as well as those of China's rural women, just as it is also necessary to judge all such assessments in light of the fact that China is still a developing country. In 2004 the number of Chinese women on the mainland participating in the workforce was slightly higher than the number participating in some developed nations, like Italy for example: in 2004 women made up 40% of mainland China's workforce, whereas women made up 39% of the workforce in Italy.

Randall Peerenboom alos, incidentally, comments a little on the progress of China's women, saying that there is no doubt that their situation has "improved dramatically" over the past 25 years.

Mark Anthony Jones
Sydney, April 8, 2007

Most of all, Chinese women don't want to be bogged down with the burdens traditional requirements. They hear the bad stories from their grandmothers and somewhat from their mothers and they get out before getting trapped in that kind of situation. They hold the scepter of power because they can marry foreigners much more easily than a chinese man can.

MAJ --

I see it in the legal community as well. Many of the lawyers with whom we work are women, which is definitely not the case in either Korea or Japan.

Many years ago, I asked a female attorney/friend about female lawyers in China and asked if the strong role of women in China was due to Communism. She quickly told me no, it was due to the long history of women in China. As I am always pointing out, my knowledge of Chinese history is pretty weak (Jeremiah, help me out here) but I the more I learn, the more I do think this is the case.

I agree with you that divorces are linked to economics.

You make a comment that I have to go after: "Chinese men are no more or less patriarchal and abusive than men anywhere else in the world of course." Do you really believe that the men of Denmark are "no less patriarchal and abusive" then the men of Saudi Arabia? I sure as hell don't.

nh --

Come on. The percentage of Chinese women who marry foreigners has to be so small as to not be a factor. Where are you even getting this?

"nh --

Come on. The percentage of Chinese women who marry foreigners has to be so small as to not be a factor. Where are you even getting this?"

Dan, I was wondering if Chuan has been traumatized romantically or otherwise in China.;)

Dan, the women attorneys are on their way in Korea. Don't worry.

The Judicial Research and Training Institute is already more than 40% women, with the proportion expected to cross 50% soon. They apparently are benefiting quite strongly from an increase in the exam-passers quota from 300 to 1000 per year -- once in the Institute, women candidates are said to be dominating in class performance. But take it with a grain of salt: My sources on this are all women, and you know they can't be trusted.

In my own practice group (our small firm of five attorneys merged into a larger Korean firm in February in order to be able to recruit; you have no idea the recruitment problems we had), we now have four female associates and no male associates. My (male) partner's opinion is that female lawyers are less interested in assassination of their seniors to take over the dominant role (we'll see about that), and more grateful to be given a fair shake.

His view is not prevalent in the Korean legal community: Female attorneys, especially new attorneys over 30, make up the lion's share of the "losers" in the job market after graduation from the Institute.

I find it interesting that (apparently) all your commenters on this post are men. But then again, I'm not sure if I've come across a woman's name (other than my own) amongst your other commenters - do you have any?

When I read the article yesterday, I was disturbed by the message and portrayal of women. Y'all seem to think the article show's women's dominance and independence in China.

I know a few Chinese women who are in difficult relationships, are divorced, or, simply, are Chinese women. I discussed this article with them to see if my reaction was unique to me (a laowai woman).

It appears not so. The article is muddled in its point. If its point is to show women's independence and strength, then why start off with the example of a woman who gave up her legal rights (she chose not to take her entitled 50%). If women are truly independent and empowered, then they would get, not only their 50%, but their 70% or more, since it sounds like they are the primary breadwinners.

The article later mentions another woman who did get something in the divorce settlement. But in that case the woman is described as suicidal and "threatened to harm their 12-year-old daughter" - hardly a pretty picture.

I agree that divorce rates often increase in societies where women gain financial independence. But I don't find that comforting. It implies that these women have no choice but to become financially independent to get out of unhappy relatioships. This aproach removes any sense of responsibility on either spouse to work through the issues. It seems like a cop-out for society to make women earn some money, just so they can get out of miserable relationships.

Why isn't it true that as more wives become financially independent and have the option to leave their loveless (or worse) marriages, the husbands become enlightened and realize if they don't stop sleeping around and don't start helping out around the house and treating their wives with due respect and honor, that they (the husbands) will lose something important (their wives).

I want to see a headline proclaiming "Increased Financial Independence of Women Leads to Increase in Marriage Counseling and Longer Marriages". This headline assumes that marriage counseling involves both spouses making an honest effort to work through the problem in their relationship.

Granted, your decision to post on this article was driven by what the article says about societal changes in China, not necessarily what the article says about divorce. But, it's all kinda interwoven, isn't it? A bit hard to separate the two.

And if what everyone has been saying about the long history of women's strength in China's society, then that part of society hasn't really changed - just the approach to divorce has changed.

That change would be that divorce is more common and becoming more accepted. But it still ain't easy being a divorced woman. Which contradicts the long history of women's strength in China.

Traditionally, women are strong respected members of society so long as they put up with cheating husbands and continue to bring in the money.

Maybe that view is changing. I would guess the only people who are changing their view on this are divorced women - and not even all of them. I am sure the majority of them, though divorced, still attach societal stigma to themselves.

Okay. I think my thoughts in this comment are not completely organized. I hesitated to comment yesterday because I don't particularly feel like writing a 10 page paper on all the reasons the Wash. Post article was poorly written and why I don't think it is a good example of societal change in China. But, I hope there is some coherency in my comment to get my point across.

My point is that the I did not like the article.

p.s. Y'all opened a whole lot of can of worms with comments about men from Asia and Chinese women easily marrying foreigners - but I just gotta pick and choose my responses, right now. There's just too much wrong with this whole thread for me to address it ALL.

MAJ --

No problem. It's happened to me also.

nh --

By whom? The 800 million you are always talking about?

"so you know that sometimes it takes great strength to avoid the path of senseless and time consuming litigation" - agreed. but in my experience, the women who choose to let it all go are not thinking about senseless and time consuming litigation. they are thinking about saving face or they are too hurt/tired to fight for their rights. and, in fact, it is a fight. and the fact that it is a fight points to society's inclination to make it difficult for her to get her rights. But I could be wrong in the China-sense. Any China historians out there specializing in family law and women's history that would like to comment?

""it seems like a cop-out for society to make women earn some money, just so they can get out of miserable relationships" but what is the alternative for a truly failed marriage?" if the marriage is truly failed, then yes, the woman needs to figure out how to be financially responsible for herself so she can get out of it. But reading this article, I saw more of an inference that making money to end the marriage was step one, versus step 10 in the marriage breakdown process. I would say there should be preceding steps, such as counseling, societal pressure on the husband, self-reflection by the wife, etc. I don't like the idea that if a woman finds something wrong in her marriage she has only two choices -- the choice to 1. put up with it or 2. get financially stable and split.

"I do not see women who put up with "cheating husbands" being viewed as "strong" in the US and I do not know how such women are viewed in China." - again, any China historians or social scientists out there who'd like to comment? My very general comment is that in traditional societies the world over, women were taught that it is more honorable to put up with cheating husbands and continue to be the ideal wife rather than to walk away from it. No doubt, much of it revolved around financial independence, but there is also a very strong family honor factor here. This attitude has changed significantly in Western Countries (probably along the same lines of the breakdown of extended family units and self-identifying as part of a family versus as an individual - all point the article mentions as happening in modern China), but can even still be found in communities in the US (communities of ALL faiths and backgrounds - not just immigrant or 1st generation, but also WASP and other.). But, in my experience, this attitude is much more prevalent in the East.

Serwat --

Good questions. Anyone?

CLB: the reason the divorce rate is so high is because it is so easy to get divorced. Women especially won't be treated as "untouchable" for being divorced. That means that they don't have to accept flagrant cheating from their hubbies.
And before MAJ or JWang responds with some "you don't know China" thing, I'll pre-emptively bring up the practice of maintaining "golden birds".