Center for Social Security Studies, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China.
School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jul 22;17(15):5267. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155267.
Scholars of social inequality in China have commonly concentrated on strata-related social welfare systems that divide the population into urban and rural dwellers, and additionally, into different welfare classes such as civil servants, employees, and migrant workers. Following Esping-Andersen, Siaroff, Sainsbury, and others, this paper brings the perspective of "gendering welfare" into the study of Chinese social policy. Focusing upon two major social policy branches in China-the old age pension insurance system and care services within the household-it discusses the role of Chinese women in these two fields. Through a gender-sensitive analysis, this paper elaborates the social phenomenon of "silent reserves" (namely, women) within the Chinese welfare regime. While women assume a crucial role in intrafamily care services, constituting the chief contributors of long-term care and childcare, their care contributions at home are not recognized as "social achievements" and are not monetarily compensated by the patriarchal Chinese welfare state. In addition, this paper argues that women are systematically disadvantaged by pension insurance arrangements. Furthermore, the individualization of care services in the intrafamily context weakens the pension entitlements of women, since their unpaid care constrains their ability to maintain full-time jobs in the labor market.
中国社会不平等问题的学者通常集中研究与阶层相关的社会福利制度，将人口分为城市居民和农村居民，并进一步分为不同的福利群体，如公务员、员工和农民工。本文借鉴了艾斯平-安德森、西阿罗夫、塞恩斯伯里等人的观点，将“赋权于性别”的视角引入中国社会政策研究。本文聚焦于中国的两大社会政策领域——养老保险制度和家庭内的护理服务，探讨了中国女性在这两个领域中的作用。通过对性别敏感的分析，本文阐述了中国福利制度中“沉默的储备”（即女性）这一社会现象。虽然女性在家庭内的护理服务中发挥着至关重要的作用，是长期护理和儿童保育的主要贡献者，但她们在家中的护理贡献不被视为“社会成就”，也不会得到中国父权制福利国家的货币补偿。此外，本文认为，女性在养老保险安排方面受到系统性的不利影响。此外，家庭内护理服务的个体化削弱了女性的养老金权益，因为她们无偿的护理工作限制了她们在劳动力市场上全职工作的能力。
