In 2023, the "National Survey on College Students' Marriage and Childbearing Concepts" jointly released by the China Family Planning Association, China Youth Network and the Chinese and Development Research Center showed that 55% of female college students regard career stability as one of the important conditions for having children.

Fight for a career, or have a baby? For many working women of childbearing age, it is difficult to judge whether this is a multiple-choice question or a single-choice question. During this year's National Two Sessions, the program of China Youth Daily's "Youth Talk of the Two Sessions" invited guests to explore this topic together: When the rising period of women's careers in the workplace "hits" the golden period of childbirth, how to minimize the impact on women's fertility intentions? How to let women have both "fish and bear's paw", while harvesting the most beloved baby, they can also gain life value and sense of achievement in the workplace?

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Promotion or birth Don't choose one of the two

"For women in the workplace, being a mother is a road." 40-year-old Zhang Huimin is deeply impressed by this sentence.

She has two children, the eldest daughter is 11 years old and the youngest son is 3 years old. Before her first pregnancy, she was a store manager in a supermarket, and suits and heels were her workplace standard, and Zhang Huimin still remembers the way she confidently negotiated with customers in a conference room, which was the highlight of her career. All this, after having the first child, turned to another track.

Zhang Huimin concluded: "In the contradiction between the workplace and childbirth, the most difficult balance is time. "The most entangled period for her is when the child is 0-3 years old, there is no parental support, and there is a lot of pressure to bring a baby; After going to kindergarten, how to ensure that the baby is picked up on time is another hurdle; If the baby is sick, take a few days off to take care of the child ... This series of questions plagued Zhang Huimin one after another.

Working mothers like her, some people are spinning between work and childcare, and some are trapped in the dilemma of carrying milk.

32-year-old Zhao Yue is also a working mother, and her mother can help her with her children, which makes her return to the workplace less stressful. But on her first day back at work, she had a new task: carrying milk.

Zhao Yue's company has two mother and baby rooms, before giving birth, she always felt that the "utilization rate is very low", and after becoming a nurse, she found that "there is a queue to use the mother and baby room".

In order to be able to suck milk and go back to work as soon as possible, Zhao Yue usually chooses an unused conference room to "make a quick decision". But the conference room does not give the mother a sense of security. Once, Zhao Yue had just finished sucking milk in the cubicle of the conference room, and a large group of people suddenly poured into the originally unoccupied conference room for a meeting, looking at the milk bag full of breast milk and the unfolded milking tools, she suddenly became nervous, tiptoeing in the compartment, not daring to make a little noise, until the colleague left after the meeting, she quietly opened the door and went out.

A breastfeeding mother said that the physical pain caused by milking can be tolerated, but what makes her unbearable is, why can't working mothers express and carry milk calmly and easily? The embarrassment and embarrassment caused by carrying milk has become a common state of mind for working mothers.

Zhao Zheng, a partner and account director of a company, sometimes had to leave a "I need to pump milk" after the milk was too engorge, and quickly left the scene, leaving colleagues looking at each other. Every time at this embarrassing moment, Zhao Zheng sincerely hopes that the society can popularize more science on the plight of lactating women, so that more people can understand the difficulty of working mothers.

"In fact, promotion and having a baby are not just a choice, and women in the workplace do not have to force themselves to become full-scoring mothers, just relax." Zhao Zheng hopes that the social level will give more consideration to the situation of working mothers, and companies and public places can build complete mother and baby rooms, so that they can feel the thoughtfulness and care of a childbirth-friendly society, which can greatly reduce the psychological pressure of working mothers.

Implicit employment discrimination due to childbirth cannot be tolerated

34-year-old Yichen and her husband have known each other for 7 years, been married for 4 years, and have no children. There are always relatives and friends around Yichen who remind her that "you are old enough to have children", but she prefers to live without children. In particular, Yichen found that women are very vulnerable to discrimination due to childbirth, which has reduced their willingness to have children.

Aya, HR of a private enterprise in Beijing, said frankly that examining the marriage and childbearing of women of childbearing age is the focus of the company's recruitment of female employees. Although the law clearly stipulates that there must be no discrimination in employment, there are still some unwritten "hidden methods" in the workplace. Aya revealed that HR will let job seekers inadvertently "reveal" their true marriage and childbirth status through small talk or some side-by-side questions, and for some female job seekers who are unwilling to explain their marriage and childbirth, the company is likely to directly refuse to hire.

He Tian, who got married at the end of last year, works for an Fortune 500 company in charge of administrative management, and her psychological pressure is that she is worried that her position will be replaced after returning from maternity leave.

Wang Zi, 25, was marginalized by the ministry because of childbirth. She used to work for a company in Hunan Province, and when she learned that she was pregnant, her first reaction was "finished." The leader, who originally appreciated her, transferred her from the core department to a marginal position, doing trivial work that was low-tech and had little to do with her major. The situation did not improve until the child was almost two years old.

During this period, Wang Zi couldn't help but ask the leader many times to express his demands for job transfer, and most of them received answers that were painless. This kind of hidden workplace discrimination made her feel anxious and frustrated. "I hope that companies can affirm working mothers more, and do not think that women cannot be entrusted with heavy responsibilities after becoming mothers, which is neither humanistic nor fair." Wang Zi is not discouraged, she believes that she can be competent in both the child and the workplace, "because it is also a role model for children."

Li Shuqing, 27, has just graduated and planned when to have children, and in her opinion, women should have children "sooner rather than later." She is more eager to experience the life experience of having a baby, and the new role of "mother" in life can bring strength and confidence.

Despite learning the dilemmas of the workplace and children, Zhang Huimin has no regrets about becoming a mother, and now she is an insurance practitioner. In her opinion, the most attractive thing about this job is that she can work flexibly, she can pick up and drop off her children to and from school on time, and she can also take care of workplace work.

When she comes home from work, the child will share the interesting stories of the day with her, smile and show the newly learned knowledge, and when she works overtime at home, the child is next to her to cheer her up, and she feels the happiness and satisfaction of that moment. There are countless hers in this city, and they work hard between the workplace and the family, so that the "soft underbelly" becomes the "armor".

How to give working mothers "stable happiness"

From January 2023, 1, the newly revised Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests was officially implemented, protecting "her" rights and interests in an all-round way.

According to Zhang Liyun, associate professor at the Law School of the China Institute of Labour Relations, the implementation of the law is of positive significance to more comprehensively protect the rights and interests of women in the workplace. "The revision of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests strengthens the protection of women's equal employment rights, explicitly prohibits gender discrimination in recruitment, and increases the protection of women's rights and interests during pregnancy." Zhang Liyun explained.

All localities have promulgated relevant laws and regulations to address the issue of employment discrimination against women of childbearing age. The "Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Administrative Punishment Discretionary Benchmark Table" issued by Beijing Municipality clearly states that employers who refuse to recruit (hire) women on the grounds of gender in the recruitment (employment) process, or raise the recruitment (employment) standards for women differently, or reduce the wages and benefits of female employees due to marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, breastfeeding, etc., may be fined up to 50,000 yuan according to law.

The Regulations on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests in Shanghai, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, add a gender equality statistical reporting system and a gender equality assessment mechanism, and require the establishment of a guarantee system that synchronizes with economic and social development.

In Zhang Liyun's view, this is a good start, the legislation fundamentally stops workplace discrimination, eradicates explicit employment discrimination, and has a deterrent effect on some "hidden discrimination". "Now that women's legal literacy has improved significantly, if there is discrimination in the recruitment process, women can seek help from relevant departments such as women's federations, trade unions, labor administrative departments, and local police stations, and once verified, the labor unit will compensate the job seekers according to the law." Zhang Liyun said.

In addition to the employment discrimination faced by women of childbearing age, the state also pays attention to the problem of breastfeeding mothers. In 2022, the National Health Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 17 departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Active Fertility Support Measures", which proposed that employers with more female employees should establish maternal and infant facilities such as maternity lounges and nursing rooms, and implement breastfeeding promotion actions.

Cheng Jiaoying, deputy chief physician of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said frankly that women in the workplace usually face both physical and psychological pressure. She called for more substantial care for mothers in the workplace. For example, a mother and baby room with a baby's privacy room with a video of the baby on a loop can help the mother shorten the milking time.

Yang Shenghui, associate researcher of the Chinese and Development Research Center, said that when the rising period of career "collides" with the golden period of fertility, solving the fertility problem of women in the workplace requires the joint efforts of all parties from national policies to society, enterprises and families. She suggested that in addition to the corresponding functions or the pursuit of economic interests, enterprises should actively assume social responsibilities and give more care to women in the childbearing stage; In the family, men should participate more in childcare and jointly undertake family affairs such as housework and child companionship; Women themselves should also establish a positive view of fertility.

Aya suggested that government departments should formulate and improve relevant policies, such as some preferential policies for small and medium-sized enterprises that recruit women of childbearing age, which will greatly improve the enthusiasm of enterprises to recruit women of childbearing age, and also make women who are suitable for childbearing no longer give up childbearing for fear of losing their jobs.

According to Qi Xiumin, deputy to the National People's Congress and deputy secretary of the party committee of the lawyer industry in Xingtai City, Hebei Province, only when the interests of enterprises and female employees are taken into account can enterprises be willing to better contribute to the construction of a childbirth-friendly society and relieve female employees during childbearing periods.

Cheng Jiaoying, who has been practicing obstetrics for nearly 20 years, said that it is a very valuable and meaningful thing to watch a little life go from toddler to adulthood. She often tells young mothers, "Every baby is the best gift God has given us." ”

(At the request of the interviewee, some interviewees are pseudonyms)

China Youth Daily / China Youth Net reporter Wen Weina Huang Danwei Source: China Youth Daily