二孩政策如何影响职场女性

    上个月底，中国政府宣布取消实行了30多年的独生子女政策，允许一对夫妇生育两个孩子。中央政府并未解释政策为何转变，但分析师指出，此举正逢其时，作为全球第二大经济体，中国的适龄劳动人口正在减少，越来越多国民步入老年，这引起政府担忧。

    然而，这一人口政策变化产生了新问题，其中之一就是对职业女性的影响。世界银行数据显示，中国64%的劳动者都是女性。不少分析师和社会学家认为，大批中国女性之所以能跻身企业管理层，也要归功于国内自1980年推行的独生子女政策。

    此言不虚。设在上海的市场研究公司胡润研究院新近发布的报告披露，十大白手起家的女性亿万富豪多数来自中国。百度、SOHO中国等多家知名企业都有女高管的身影。阿里巴巴集团董事局主席马云此前甚至公开表示，女性是阿里“成功的秘诀”。

    不过，对于新政策的影响，美国乔治城大学麦克多诺商学院的战略与经济学教授亚瑟·董表示，人口新政并不会妨碍中国女性在职场上更上一层楼。他说：“凭借自身的积极进取和对个人成就的奋斗期望，中国女性在商界取得了巨大进步。众多女性进入大学深造，寻求获得专业领域的高学位。”

    中国有依靠家人的传统，假如要抚养好几个孩子，职业女性倒可能得到家人帮助。亚瑟·董这样解释：“中国的小夫妻通常会依赖家中长辈，在夫妻二人忙于工作的时候，祖辈会伸出援手，照看孙辈。对许多家庭来说，这是一种历史悠久的传统，长辈也愿意接受。”

    另外，新政策可能促使一些有远见的企业增加现场托儿设施，更便于育儿的女员工回到工作岗位。

    但另外一些中国观察者认为，这次的政策调整可能导致职场性别歧视更为普遍，企业可能觉得女性会花更多时间照顾孩子，所以变得不愿雇用女员工。2010年一项有关中国女性平等就业权利的研究显示，70%以上的女性受访者觉得自己没有得到就业或者提拔的机会是由于性别原因。

    对很多女性而言，生养第二个孩子的影响，更多是关乎家庭收入而非个人事业。上海一家投资公司的首席财务官告诉《财富》杂志，他认为二胎政策不会影响白领女性，因为“与其说是政策在限制，不如说是因为生育意愿。生了孩子之后，家庭开销负担加重，这种影响很大。”

    近些年，养育孩子的成本增加成为中国人越来越担心的问题。伦敦经济研究顾问公司Capital Economics的研究人员在最近一份报告中写道：“任何人口政策调整，城镇居民都是最大的受益者。可他们普遍不想多生孩子。”报告提到，2013年一项调查显示，将近半数城镇居民不想多生养孩子。

    市场数据供应与分析机构欧睿信息咨询有限公司的研究经理乔伊·黄说：“为了孩子，只要买得起，中国的父母就会挑选最好的婴儿产品。因此，儿童产品占家庭支出的很大一部分。”黄所说的儿童产品是指进口的配方牛奶、减少空气污染的空气净化器等商品。

    短期来看，新的人口政策可能不会影响中国的劳动力结构。但再过几十年也许就会出现难以预计的后果，因为更多的女性不得不面临抉择，是要晋升到管理层还是以家庭为重，保证养育孩子的时间充裕，或者她们得设法在两者之间取得平衡。

    放开“二孩”的消息传出后不久，我和一个中国中产阶级女性朋友聊过此事。她新婚燕尔，正在考虑怀孕生子。她对新政策表示欢迎，但又担心女性专注在工作上的时间会减少。“很多人会说，女同志兼顾不了，”她顿了顿又说，“可事实上，女人能力很强。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Pessy

    校对：詹妮

    China lifted its decades-old one-child policy, allowing families to have two children. While the central government didn’t explain its reasons, analysts say the move comes at a time when the world’s second-largest economy is worried about a drop in its working-age population and its growing ranks of elderly people.

    One of the questions raised by the change is how it will affect women in the workforce. Women comprise 64% of China’s workforce, according to World Bank data, and many analysts and sociologists have said China’s one-child policy, which was put in place in 1980, contributed to the large number of women climbing the corporate ladder.

    Indeed, a recent research report by Shanghai-based market research firm Hurun revealed that a majority of the top 10 self-made billionaire women came from China. Many of the nation’s high-profile companies, such as Baidu and SOHO China, have female executives and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma has gone as far as saying women are his company’s “secret sauce.”

    Georgetown professor Arthur Dong, who teaches strategy and economics at the McDonough School of Business, said he doesn’t expect the new policy to deter women from pursuing high-powered careers. “Women in China have made great strides in the business world as a result of their ambition and expectation of what is attainable,” he said. “Women are enrolling in college and seeking advanced professional degrees in large numbers.”

    China’s tradition of relying on family may help working women when it comes to caring for multiple children. “Often, couples will rely on extended family. Grandma or grandpa to step in and mind the child while the couple is working,” Dong said. “For many families this is a time-honored tradition and one that grandparents willingly accept.”

    In addition, the new policy may spur forward-thinking companies to increase on-site childcare to make it more convenient for employees to return to work.

    But other China watchers say the shift may make gender discrimination in the workplace more prevalent, as companies could become reluctant to hire women, knowing they may take more time off to have children. In a 2010 study of women’s equal employment rights in China, more than 70% of respondents said they thought they were not hired or promoted because of their gender.

    For many women, the impact of having a second child may be less about their career and more about their family’s finances. The CFO of an investment company in Shanghai told Fortune that he didn’t think the two-children policy would affect women in the office because “it’s not about the restriction, but more about the willingness to give birth, which is fairly restricted by the high burden of financial cost.” (The executive asked that his name be withheld over concerns about how the government would view his comments.)

    Concern over growing costs of raising children in China has been rising in recent years. “Urban residents, who would be the biggest beneficiaries of any changes in the rules, do not generally appear to want more children,” researchers from London-based Capital Economics wrote in a recent note, citing a 2013 survey that showed nearly 50% of urban residents do not desire multiple children.

    “Chinese parents would choose the best baby-related products they could afford for their children, hence, baby-related products account for a big part of the family cost,” said Euromonitor International research manager Joy Huang, referring to buying products such as imported milk formula and air purifiers to combat pollution.

    In the short term, the policy probably won’t have an effect on the workforce. But over the next few decades, there could be unforeseen consequences, as more women have to choose between—or try to balance—moving into executive positions and having ample time to raise their children.

    Shortly after the news broke, I asked a Chinese middle-class female friend who’s recently married and thinking about getting pregnant. She said she liked the new rules, but was concerned about women having less time to concentrate on work. “Many people will say women can’t do this,” she said, before pausing and adding, “but the fact is women have a lot of abilities.”