Chinese authorities have urged companies to offer women flexible job roles called “Mama Posts” that make it easier to balance work and childcare.
This is coming after China’s population reduced drastically in 2023 owing to work and child care imbalance women struggle with.
According to reports, many mothers stay out of job market for more than three years until their children are old enough to enter daycare and require flexible working hours on returning to the workforce.
While many employers explore the “Mother’s Post” model, available job options are often limited, with most involving short or temporary contracts, making it tough to protect women’s legitimate rights and interests.
These struggles cause women in China to choose to stay childless due to the high cost of childcare, unwillingness to marry or put careers on hold in a traditional society that still sees them as the main caregivers and where gender discrimination is rife.
However, the Chinese authorities have rolled out incentives such as longer maternity leave, financial and tax benefits for having children and housing subsidies to boost the birth rate.
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