The Status of Women in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

The People’s Republic of China, commonly referred to as China, was formally established on October 1, 1949 under the rule of the Communist Party, and led by Mao Zedong. China, being one of the world’s oldest civilizations, has a long and illustrious history that dates back well before 1949. Unfortunately, many of the ancient, deep rooted Confucius values still exist in China today. The P.R China is the most heavily populated country in the world. As of July 2012, the World Population Data Sheet estimates that China has over 1.34 billion people (“Current World Population”). There are more than 651 million women in China, which amounts to almost 20% of the women in the world. Women in China account for almost 10% of the world’s total population. In a 2008 survey, more than 20,000 were asked the importance of gender equality, 76% felt that it was “very important” to the people of China (WorldPublicOpinion.org). Due to the incredible amount of women that live in China, gender equality as well as the overall treatment of women is critical to the successful economic development of not only China, but the rest of the world as well. Given the tremendous female population, no country has a greater influence on the world’s female populous than China.

Keywords: Social Mobility, Social Evolution

JEL Classification: A22, A10, O10, O18, O19