Statistical Monitoring Report of China National Program for Women’s Development (2021-2030) in 2021
National Bureau of Statistics April, 2023
The year of 2021 is the first year for implementation of the China National Program for Women’s Development (2021-2030) (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”). In order to fully reflect the progress in the implementation of the program, the National Bureau of Statistics, based on the statistical and monitoring index system and data of relevant departments, made a comprehensive analysis in respect of 8 areas including health, education, economy, participation in policy making and management, social security, family building, environment and law. The results showed that the Program was implemented in a smooth way in the first year. Women’s health condition continued to improve, education level steadily increased, women’s economic and social status continued to improve, the scope of social security continued to expand, and the legal protection system of rights and interests further improved.
I. Women and health
(I) Women’s health level continued to improve. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate was 16.1 per 100,000, 4.7 percent lower than that in 2020. The maternal mortality rate in urban and rural areas was 15.4 per 100,000 and 16.5 per 100,000 respectively, narrowing the urban-rural gap from 4.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 1.1 per 100,000.
(II) Women's life-cycle management continued to improve. Since 2021, China has further implemented the action plan to improve maternal and child safety, and urged the full implementation of the five-point system for maternal and child safety. Services for the whole process of childbirth has been enhanced at a faster pace. Health care for adolescence and menopause has been promoted. The prevention and treatment of key diseases such as cervical cancer and breast cancer has been enhanced. In 2021, the premarital medical examination rate was 70.9 percent, 2.5 percentage points higher than in 2020; The rate of systematic management of pregnant women and prenatal screening was 92.9 percent and 85.7 percent, up 0.2 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively. The hospital delivery rate remained at a high level of 99.9 percent. The postpartum visit rate was 96 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage points.
(III) Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is declining. The Implementation Plan for Curbing HIV Transmission (2019-2022) has been fully implemented, the project to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been advanced, and prevention and treatment of mother-to-child transmission of HIV has been strengthened. In 2021, the mother-to-child transmission rate of HIV was 3.3 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from 2020.
II. Women and education
(I) The gender gap in compulsory education has been basically eliminated. The balanced development of compulsory education has been continuously promoted, and girls' right to equal access to compulsory education has been effectively protected. In 2021, the net enrollment rate for girls and boys of primary school age both reached 99.9 percent with almost no gender gap. The number of girls enrolled in compulsory education was 73.67 million, 817,000 more than in 2020. It accounted for 46.6 percent of all students, unchanged from 2020.
(II) Women’ equal access to senior high school education [1] has been continuously consolidated. In 2021, China launched the “14th Five-Year” Action Plan for promotion of the development of regular high schools at county level to further promote the popularization of senior high school education and consolidate the opportunities for girls to receive senior high school education. In 2021, there were 20.598 million female students in senior high schools, accounting for 46.8 percent of students in senior high schools, basically unchanged from 2020. Among them, the number of female students in regular high schools was 13.081 million, an increase of 506,000, accounting for 50.2 percent of students in regular high schools, and had remained above 50 percent for seven consecutive years.
(III) The level of vocational education for women has improved. In 2021, China issued and implemented the Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Modern Vocational Education, focusing on improving the quality of secondary vocational education and training talents. In 2021, there were 7.266 million female students in secondary vocational education[2], 366,000 more than in 2020. Accounting for 41.8 percent of the total, an increase of 0.3 percentage points. The number of female students in higher vocational colleges reached 7.481 million, accounting for 46.7 percent of the total.
(IV) The proportion of female students in universities and colleges has stayed above 50 percent. Since the popularization of higher education, the opportunities for women to receive higher education have been increasing. In 2021, there were 27.807 million female students in institutions of higher learning, an increase of 1.244 million over 2020, accounting for 50.2 percent of the students enrolled. Among them, 1.717 million were female postgraduates, accounting for 51.5 percent of all postgraduates, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. The number of female students in general college, vocational college and adult college was 17.561 million and 4.805 million, accounting for 50.2 percent and 57.7 percent, respectively.
III. Women and the economy
(I) The share of women of all employed people has remained above 40 percent. With accelerated promotion of equality employment and great efforts to eliminate discrimination in employment, women’s rights and interests have been safeguarded in China. In 2021, 320 million women were employed nationwide, accounting for 43.1 percent of all employed people. The number of women employed in non-private urban units reached 68.52 million, an increase of 730,000 over 2020, accounting for 40.3 percent of the total, up 0.5 percentage points.
(II) Labor protection for female workers has continued to improve. The publicity and implementation of the Special Provisions on the Labor Protection of Female Employees has been intensified, employers and female workers have increased their awareness of labor protection and production safety, and the legitimate rights and special interests of female employees have been safeguarded. In 2021, 73.3 percent of enterprises implemented the Special Provisions on the Labor Protection of Female Employees, an increase of 2 percentage points over 2020.
IV. Participation of women in decision-making and management
(I) More efforts have been made to train and select female cadres. Greater efforts were made to advance the training and selection of female cadres to create platforms for their growth and success. In 2021, the ratio of leading bodies with female official cadres in governments at provincial, municipal and county levels was 6.5 percent, 8.4 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively. The proportion of leading bodies with female cadres in governments at provincial, municipal and county levels was 61.3 percent, 86.5 percent and 96 percent. The ratio of teams with female heads in government departments at provincial, municipal and county levels was 10.1 percent, 14 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively, an increase of 0.2, 0.9 and 0.7 percentage points over 2020, respectively. The proportion of teams with female cadres in government departments at provincial, municipal and county levels was 53.6 percent, 55.7 percent and 50.8 percent, respectively, an increase of 0.2, 1.2 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively.
(II) Women's participation in corporate decision-making and management is more widespread. The reform of the personnel system of enterprises has been constantly deepened so as to enable more outstanding women to join the boards of directors, boards of supervisors and management of enterprises. As a result, women have been taking part in enterprise management with greater breadth and depth. In 2021, the proportion of female staff directors and staff supervisors in enterprises was 37.6 percent, and 40.5 percent, respectively, 2.7 and 2.3 percentage points higher than in 2020, respectively. The proportion of women in employee congresses was 30.6 percent, up 0.4 percentage points.
(III) Women's participation in community-level social governance has deepened. Great efforts have been made to advance women’s participation in local community-level social governance, increasing the proportion of women in both neighborhood and village committees. In 2021, 54.4 percent of neighborhood committee members were women, 2.3 percentage points higher than in 2020. Women accounted for 41.4 percent of the heads of neighborhood committees, an increase of 2.4 percentage points. The proportion of women in village committees was 26.8 percent, up 2.6 percentage points. Women accounted for 11.1 percent of the heads of village committees, an increase of 1.3 percentage points.
(IV) Women have been playing greater role in social organization. Great efforts have been made to encourage, support and guide more women to participate in the management and development of social organizations, increasing the proportion of women in social organizations. In 2021, the proportion of women working in social organizations was 39.2 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than in 2020. Women accounted for 26.7 percent of heads of social organizations.
V. Women and social security
(I) The number of women participating in basic medical insurance has steadily increased. The basic medical insurance system covering the entire population has been further improved, with more female workers and urban and rural women participating in the basic medical insurance. By the end of 2021, 660 million females were covered by basic medical insurance, an increase of 8.206 million over the end of 2020. Among them, 170 million people participated in basic medical insurance for employees and 490 million for urban and rural residents, an increase of 7.889 million and 318,000, respectively.
(II) Women's participation in the basic old-age insurance system continued to expand. China has stepped up efforts to promote the full coverage of legal personnel in social insurance, promote the lift of household registration restrictions on non-domicile-registered flexible employment workers in the place of employment to participate in the employee pension insurance. The flexible employment workers not covered by the basic pension insurance for enterprise employees were organized to be covered in the basic pension insurance for urban and rural residents according to the regulations. By the end of 2021, 490 million women participated in basic old-age insurance, an increase of 18.971 million over the end of 2020. Among them, 230 million women participated in basic pension insurance for urban workers and 260 million women participated in basic pension insurance for urban and rural residents, an increase of 17.98 million and 991,000, respectively.
(III) The number of women covered by maternity, unemployment and work-related injury insurance has increased. With the implementation of the integration of maternity insurance and basic medical insurance for employees, various insurance systems have been continuously improved, and women's rights and interests in various insurance are protected. By the end of 2021, the number of women covered by maternity insurance was 105 million, an increase of 1.591 million over the end of 2020. The number of people covered by unemployment insurance reached 98.165 million, an increase of 6.093 million. The number of people covered by work-related injury insurance reached 106 million, an increase of 3.614 million.
(IV) The level of assistance for women in need has steadily improved. China has continued to consolidate and expand its achievements in poverty alleviation, effectively meet the bottom line of people in poverty, and provide a strong guarantee for the sustainable development of women in poverty. In 2021, per capita subsistence allowances was 711.4 yuan per month for urban residents and 530.2 yuan per month for rural residents, up 5 percent and 6.7 percent over 2020, respectively. The number of recipients of subsistence allowances and people living in extreme poverty in urban and rural areas altogether was 46.824 million, among whom 20.246 million were women, accounting for 43.2 percent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points.
(V) The supply of elderly care services has been enhanced. In 2021, China promoted the implementation of the national strategy to actively respond to the aging population with innovated home-based care service mode. The old-age service system has been completed continuously. By the end of 2021, 733,000 women had access to institutional elderly care services, 50,000 more than that at the end of 2020. The number of community service institutions and facilities for the elderly was 318,000, an increase of 26,000.
VI. Women and family building
(I) Policies and measures to support family development has continued to improve. Local governments have revised the regulations on population and family planning, introduced supporting measures for the new family policy, including finance, taxation, education, housing, and employment, and made active efforts to reduce the burden of birth and education upon families.
(II) The development of family traditions and education has been deepened. Activities have been arranged to create civilized families and encourage family members to fulfil their family and social responsibilities. The project of “Happiness to All Families” has been implemented focusing on building a good family, cultivating good family manners and inheriting good family traditions. In 2021, women's federations at all levels commended 49,858 Five-virtue Families and recommended 1.786 million of the most beautiful families at all levels. During the theme Publicity Month of Family Traditions, 113,000 Red Family Tradition Stories were preached, directly involving 34 million people.
VII. Women and the environment
(I) The safety of drinking water has been further consolidated and improved. In 2021, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Guideline on Deepening the Battle against Pollution, accelerating the standardization of urban water sources and strengthening the protection of rural water sources. In 2021, 94.2 percent of drinking water sources in cities at prefecture level and above met standards. Access to tap water in rural areas was 84 percent, 1 percentage point higher than in 2020.
(II) The availability of sanitary latrines in rural areas has steadily increased. In 2021, China issued and implemented the Five-Year Action Plan for Improving Rural Living Environment (2021-2025) to promote the rural toilet transformation, popularize sanitary toilets, and improve rural living environment. By the end of 2021, more than 70 percent of rural residents had access to sanitary toilets.
VIII. Women and the law
(I) Further progress has been made in preventing and stopping domestic violence. Since the enactment and implementation of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, China has continuously strengthened the mandatory reporting system, warning letters, personal safety protection orders, anti-domestic violence asylum centers and other domestic violence intervention measures, and improved the legal system against domestic violence. In 2021, 2,530 habeas corpus orders were issued for women.
(II) New progress has been made in combating crimes against women. In 2021, China issued the Action Plan against Human Trafficking (2021-2030) to intensify efforts to prevent and crack down on crimes such as trafficking, sexual assault and organized prostitution. In 2021, 251 cases of abduction and trafficking of women were solved; 35,000 cases of rape were solved; 15,000 cases of organizing, forcing, luring, housing or introducing women to prostitution were cracked. The number of sexual harassment liability disputes received was 88.
(III) Access to public legal services for women have been expanded. The system of legal aid and juridical assistance has been continuously improved, with expanded coverage and stronger awareness of women to protect their rights and interests. By the end of 2021, there were 2,629 legal aid organizations and 75,000 legal aid work sites in China. In 2021, legal aid was provided in 329,000 cases for women. Juridical assistance was provided to 16,000 women, 16,000 women and 141 women by people’s courts, people's procuratorate and the juridical administration system, respectively. Women’s federations at or above county level dealt with 179,000 complaints from women and children.
Note:
[1] Senior high school education includes regular high school, secondary vocational education and national Open University secondary vocational department.
[2] Secondary vocational education includes ordinary technical secondary schools, adult technical secondary schools, vocational high schools, secondary vocational classes and technical schools.