China Medical News

This is the first Mother's Day following the relaxation of the four-decade family planning policy in January to allow all couples to have a second child. According to a report released by Chinese job recruitment site, Zhaopin.com, which questioned 14,290 career women on their work and life choices, nearly 60% of working mothers in China don't want to have a second child. The study also found that 20% of women who have not given birth do not want a child.

For their reasons of not wanting a child, more than 56% mentioned "cost", with the second most common reason being the amount of time, energy and attention involved. Other reasons included career risks, the pain of childbirth and little faith in their marriages. A senior consultant at Zhaopin, said "most career women think it is impossible to live solely on their husbands' paychecks" and also "they fear that if they stop working, they will become isolated from a dynamic society and lose their career prospects".

A senior expert on human resources at Chinese job-finding platform 51job.com, said, "Taking the economic situation into consideration, it is not realistic to require companies to provide absolute equality when choosing their employees. Chinese women shoulder more family responsibility. It is not just about maternity leave — a female employee might only get back to work three to five years after having her first child. If a job requires frequent business trips, extra work and more attention to work instead of to the family, a capable male candidate would be more suitable," and added "it is not about gender choice — I would say this is a market choice." (Source: China Daily)