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Authorities are trying to encourage more women to have children
after China's population fell for a second consecutive year in
2023 and births touched a record low.
"Mama's Post is a position specially created for mothers ... the
working hours are relatively flexible, making it easier to
balance work and childcare," the agency said.
Many mothers stay out of the 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,
the report said.
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, it said.
Many positions still involve labor-intensive tasks in
manufacturing and processing, targeting more unskilled workers,
such as some on offer in the city of Qingdao in the eastern
province of Shandong.
But in richer southern Guangdong authorities are looking to
promote the new model across all the cities of the province, in
professional, technical and management positions, the agency
said.
Many women in China 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.
Longer maternity leave, financial and tax benefits for having
children and housing subsidies are among the incentives to boost
the birth rate that authorities have rolled out.
(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
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