China News Service, Beijing, May 8 (Zhang Yilin) "You have to move bricks when you go out, and you have to bring your baby when you go home." This is a true portrayal of many women in the workplace after they were upgraded to mothers.
Having a baby and taking care of your career at the same time, "dual identity" is a huge challenge for every working mother. This problem not only troubles every small family, but also attracts the attention of the whole society.
Data map: On the streets of Beijing, mothers play with their children.
Photo by Zhang Hao issued by China News Agency
Double pressure from "intensive motherhood"
At 2 a.m., Jin Ya coaxed her daughter to turn on the computer for editing the project copy.
Returning to the workplace after maternity leave, she felt a little powerless to keep up with the rhythm as soon as possible while breastfeeding and taking care of the baby.
"The cost of giving birth to a baby is much higher than I imagined, so I need to relieve the family's financial pressure and earn some money for milk powder." But Jin Ya was not quite used to it after returning to work. Five hours.
"Everyone says 996 for work and 007 for bringing a baby."
Like Jin Ya, many working mothers have repeatedly fumbled about how to balance work and family, looking for working mothers' life rules.
Recently, the "2022 Working Mother's Survival Status Survey Report" released by an organization shows that from the perspective of the low willingness to bear children, the heavy financial burden of raising children is still the primary concern of working mothers and working fathers.
Secondly, it is "too busy with work and have no time to take children".
Shen Yiwei, associate professor of the Department of Sociology, School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University, also told the media that "intensive motherhood" brings invisible but overwhelming pressure to women in the workplace. The employment rate of women in my country is higher than that in other countries. Working mothers face the dual pressures of work and family.
In recent years, the government has put forward corresponding measures to protect working mothers.
In this year's government work report, it is mentioned that the supporting measures for the three-child birth policy should be improved, the care expenses of infants and young children under the age of 3 should be included in the special additional deduction of personal income tax, and the development of inclusive childcare services will reduce the burden of family care.
"Incorporating the economic costs involved in childbirth into the special personal tax deduction for all employees is one of the most direct, practical and effective measures to reduce the cost of parenting." Professor, Department of Sociology, Peking University, China Population Lu Jiehua, vice president of the society, once said.
Data map: The newlyweds take pictures outside the Marriage Registration Office of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
"Teammates" are not strong, where can there be strong working mothers?
When Ye Ye, 30, gets home from get off work every day, he is entangled by two human cubs shouting "mama hug".
Work is often inseparable, but I want to spend more time with my children, Ye Ye feels that being a working mother lacks energy every day.
"I hope I am Nezha, I need to have three heads and six arms."
One factor in Ye Zi's mental stress comes from her other half.
Wanting to be a "dual identity" of a strong woman and a good mother at the same time, the long-term lack of sleep has made her dark circles deepen.
"My husband would just swipe his phone to make me 'sleep more', and at that moment he felt that he was not understood."
The "2022 Survey Report on the Survival of Working Mothers" shows that over 20% of working mothers experience "widow-style" parenting.
According to statistics, 38.4% of working mothers said that their spouses "will share housework and take care of children when they are free," but 23.1% of working mothers said that their husbands "basically have no responsibility for housework and childcare."
In fact, in recent years, the absence of fathers in family fertility support has attracted attention in terms of increasing fertility and parenting security, and many places have added paternity leave and nursing leave for men.
For example, Jiangxi Province passed the newly revised "Jiangxi Province Population and Family Planning Regulations" in September last year, increasing maternity leave by 90 days to 188 days, and giving men 30 days of nursing leave and an increase of 15 days of paternity leave for men.
Guangxi adjusted its population and family planning regulations, increasing the paternity leave for the man for antenatal examination. During the pregnancy, the man enjoys 5 days of paternity leave for prenatal examination; both husband and wife enjoy a total of 10 days of parental leave each year when their children are 0 to 3 years old.
Data map: Women's Employment and Entrepreneurship Recruitment Fair.
Photo by Zhang Bin
Alleviating employment discrimination, working mothers will not be left behind
In recent years, regarding the "fertility bottleneck" encountered by working mothers, in addition to the difficulty in balancing work and life, many mothers have mentioned the issue of employment discrimination.
"Some friends found themselves in marginal positions after taking maternity leave, and full-time mothers also encountered obstacles when they returned to the workplace to find opportunities." Ye Zi said.
"In terms of employment, many people have called the negative effects of women's reproductive and parenting related roles in their research as 'motherhood punishment', which vividly illustrates the impact of fertility on women, such as women's employment, promotion, etc. Hidden discrimination, etc.” Lu Jiehua said in an interview earlier that “motherhood punishment” has always existed in the current social environment.
The issue of fertility has become an important reason for working mothers to encounter gender discrimination, and how to protect the legitimate rights and interests of working women has always been a topic of great concern to the society.
In this regard, this year's government work report clearly stated that we should resolutely prevent and correct employment discrimination based on gender and age, and strive to solve outstanding problems that violate the legitimate rights and interests of workers.
In April this year, the revised draft of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests was submitted for the second review. The second review draft of the revised draft added provisions on the prevention of gender discrimination: the state establishes and improves the maternity leave system for employees, and guarantees that female employees during pregnancy and childbirth are entitled to rest and vacation rights in accordance with the law.
Employers shall not restrict female employees from promotion, promotion, and evaluation of professional and technical titles and positions due to marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, breastfeeding, etc.
In addition, policies in many places also stipulate that the extension of maternity leave shall not affect promotion and salary adjustment.
For example, Beijing stipulates that for couples who have children according to regulations, the woman enjoys 60 days of extended maternity leave in addition to the maternity leave stipulated by the state, and the man enjoys 15 days of paternity leave.
During the vacation period of both men and women, organs, enterprises, public institutions, social groups and other organizations shall not dismiss them, terminate their labor or employment contracts, and their wages shall not be reduced.
In Zhejiang, for couples who have children in compliance with laws and regulations, on the basis of enjoying the maternity leave stipulated by the state, the woman can extend maternity leave for 60 days for the first child, a total of 158 days, and for the second child and the third child for 90 days, for a total of 188 days.
Zhejiang emphasized that extending maternity leave does not affect promotion, salary adjustment, and calculation of length of service; employers may give other preferential treatment according to specific circumstances.
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