China Research Seminar public talk

April 10, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Mānoa Campus, Moore Hall 109 Add to Calendar

Announcing a Chinese Studies public talk:

“A News Story in China: Female Employment in the Era of ‘Two-Child’ Policy”

by Jing Guo, Associate Professor, Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 12:00 pm

Moore Hall Rm. 109, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

China’s one-child policy, which had lasted for the previous 35 years, finally ended in 2015, when the government announced it would be implementing a “universal two-child policy”. During that period, the female employment rate in China experienced revolutionary changes, and social norms towards work, family and gender roles also evolved during the same time. Media news are a social channel that reflect public attitudes and public elite frames, as well as providing short-term evaluative data with regard to policy implementation. My presentation explores what news stories the public hear about female employment in the era of two-child policy. We searched three key media sources: xinhuanet.com, sina.com.cn and sohu.com.cn between January 2017 and September 2017. Keywords searched were two-child, family planning, childrearing attitudes, maternity leave, and female employment (in English), and the corresponding words in Chinese, such as, ertai, shengyu, yuling nüxing, chanjia, nüxing jiuye. Several themes emerged regarding the risks of discrimination toward females in job searching, retention and promotion; and discussions on policies which can support the two-child policy, such as parental leave, health insurance, and child care. Findings suggest that the two-child policy in the new era could have long-term consequences on female labor force participation in China, which requires a social policy response.

Jing Guo received her PhD in social welfare from UC Berkeley and MA in social welfare from Peking University. Dr. Guo’s research centers on (1) comparative family policy in relation to work-family balance, gender equality and child development; (2) population migration, acculturation and child wellbeing, particularly focusing on Asian Americans; and (3) social policy and social services in China. Her comparative perspective on family policy has been cross-national, covering the traditional Western welfare states and newly developed East Asian countries. Her China-related research has been published in Asian Social Work and Policy Review, China Journal of Social Work and Social Development Issues. Dr. Guo serves as the program chair for the PhD in Social Welfare and the policy sequence chair for the BSW and MSW programs. Dr. Guo also leads the MBT SSW international initiatives in China. She was appointed to the Council on Global Learning and Practice (2017–2020) by the Council for Social Work Education (CSWE).

The university community and public are cordially invited to attend!

If you would like to learn more about our events, please join our online community, at manoa.hawaii.edu/chinesestudies.


Ticket Information
Free admission

Event Sponsor
Center for Chinese Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-8891, china@hawaii.edu, Jing Guo talk (PDF)

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