Empowered or Impoverished: Divorce and Its Effects on Urban Women in Contemporary China

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Abstract

Current efforts to alleviate poverty and wealth inequality in China overlook a growing demographic with untold influence on the economic future—divorced women. Divorced women in China are at a distinct economic disadvantage when compared to their male counterparts. Although once viewed as a tool for empowerment, divorce can in many cases lead to financial hardship for women, as the inequitable wage distribution between genders causes the higher, or sole, income to be lost. This chapter addresses this rapidly growing phenomenon.

This chapter will also discuss the results of questionnaires with 52 divorced women in Shanghai and Beijing, two of the most economically and culturally open cities in China. Furthermore, four varying but representative case studies are also explored in detail. An analysis of their responses will shed light on topics such as their financial condition, their housing situation, and how they view their options for remarriage, among others. Additionally, they will suggest how the government might utilize welfare and community programs in order to improve the quality of their lives.

The goal of this research is to bring this overlooked population to attention before the continued lack of awareness causes creates financial difficulty for a growing number of women and undermines economic growth. By underscoring the remarkably similar difficulties that divorced women face across the world, I seek to emphasize our shared human experiences which are the same regardless of ethnicity, religion, and political boundaries. It is my hope that with continued scholarship in this field, we will soon be able to more effectively tackle the unique challenges of divorced women everywhere.

Keywords

Child Support Economic Freedom Divorce Rate Extramarital Affair Young Wife 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.New York UniversityNew YorkUSA

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