The Chinese government wants the birth rate to increase for the good of the state, with one planning association contending that marriage and childbirth are not private matters. Several state-backed trade unions just reminded employers that they are, NBC News reports. Companies are not to "inquire or investigate the marriage and childbearing status of female job applicants," a notice issued last week in Hunan province says. Some employers who have asked prefer to employ single women; at the same time, some women are concerned about discrimination on the job if they do not contribute to growing the population.
The notices, which also were posted in the city of Shenzhen and the province of Qinghai, led to social media discussion of women's experiences. "Female employees are expected to lie when employers ask about personal privacy during the job search process and give the employer a satisfactory answer if they really like the job," said a post on Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote. Adding to the pressure are moves like the one by a chemical manufacturer, which told its single employees that they must start a family by Sept. 30, per the New York Times. Otherwise, the memo says, "the company will terminate your labor contract." The company dropped the threat after an outcry, per NBC.
Employers shouldn't favor men in the hiring process, said the Hunan Federation of Trade Unions. And women shouldn't lose their jobs or have their pay cut because of marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, it said, per Reuters. Posts recognized the contradictions. "In the workplace, women are required not to have children but society requires women to have more children," one said. "After having children, women are required to take care of children and the family while earning money in society." (More China stories.)
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