A divorce court in Beijing has ordered a man to provide the equivalent of $7,700 in financial compensation to his wife for the housework she did during their 5-year marriage.
In a landmark ruling on Monday, Beijing's Fangshan District Court ruled in the woman's favour, ordering her husband to pay her monthly alimony of 2,000 yuan, in addition to a one-off payment of 50,000 yuan ($7,700;£5,460) for the housework she carried out during their time living together.
Court records reveal that the man - identified only by his surname Chen - filed for divorce from his wife, surnamed Wang, last year. Having been married since 2015, she was initially reluctant to part ways but later asked for financial compensation, arguing that her male partner had not conducted any housework or childcare for their son.
The ruling is historic as it follows the introduction of a new civil code in China, which came into effect this year. According to the law, a spouse is entitled to seek compensation during a divorce if he or she bears a disproportionate responsibility in child-raising, caring for elderly relatives, and aiding partners in their work.
Before the new legislation, divorcing spouses could only ask for compensation if they had signed a prenuptial agreement, which is not typical in China.
Despite the new law, China lags behind most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with Chinese women spending around four hours a day doing unpaid work - 2.5 times that of men.
In the OECD countries, women spend twice the amount of time as men carrying out unpaid labour, OECD figures reveal.
However, China remains a developing country and is not one of the OECD nations.
Among the world's emerging economies, women spend half an hour longer on average than their wealthier counterparts, according to a 2019 study by the International Monetary Fund entitled 'Reducing and Redistributing Unpaid Work: Stronger Policies to Support Gender Equality'.
In either case, the responsibility of unpaid labour falls disproportionately on women, and studied have shown this has worsened amid the coronavirus pandemic.
