Will “lady first” exist in the office?
What is the different about gender equality between China and United Kingdom?
“The world will never realize 100% of its goals if 50% of its people cannot realize their full potential. When we unleash the power of women, we can secure the future for all.” Speech by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on International Women’s Day.
In recent years, according to more and more data reports, the employers’ choice of male and female employees has also become a hot topic. You may wonder whether a job’s assessment of employees is based on work ability or gender.
“Gender issues have always played an important role in the foreign and domestic affairs of the British government.” Joanna Roper, the first special envoy for gender equality of the British Foreign Ministry, explained her new role when she was interviewed by reporters in Beijing. The British government attaches great importance to gender issues. The special envoy for gender equality, a new position established by the British government in February 2017, aims to “achieve a foreign policy that consciously and consistently helps women and girls, and demonstrate UK’s international leadership in this field.”
UK is not alone in its emphasis on gender equality at work. In China, the China Council for the promotion of Labor bureau issued a workplace gender equality handbook, Men and Women employees enjoy equal job opportunities and treatment. The work of equal value for equal pay, enjoy family and healthy， working environment equal to participate in collective bargaining, equal opportunities for career development, and access to balance work and family support
According to the Gender pay gap, which disclosed the data, 42% of the top 25% of the positions of Bank of China (UK) income are held by women, and the median hourly wage of men in the whole company is 27.2% higher than that of women, according to the data in 2017. In the same financial industry, HSBC (UK), based in London, only 28% of the top 25% of the jobs in the same year were occupied by women, with a wage gap of 34% between men and women, while the two figures of Lloyds Bank are 31.5% and 42.7% respectively.
But in China, According to The report on gender differences in China’s workplace in 2019 was released by the mobile Internet recruitment platform Boss direct employment. The report shows that in 2018, the average salary of Chinese women was 6497 yuan, the average salary was 78.3% of men, and the salary advantage of men was 8.7 percentage points higher than that of 2017.
According to the 2010 census, 74% of working women in China have jobs. This figure can be compared with countries such as the United States and Australia. In 2010, about 75% of working women in the United States and Australia had jobs. In the same year, Sweden’s figure was 87.5%, France was 84%, and United Kingdom was 79%. This data shows that there is still a gap between the number of working women in China and the UK. Britain has been committed to gender equality in recent decades, advocating that men and women be equal in their jobs.
Women’s empowerment is an economic necessity. According to a McKinsey study, advancing women’s equality in the countries of Asia Pacific alone could add $4.5 trillion to their collective annual GDP in 2025. To tackle this global challenge, the UK Government in China in partnership with China’s Mulan Club, the British Chamber of Commerce in China and Netease Women launched the campaign The Be Yourself: Pledge for Progress at the 3rd Silk Road International Trade and Investment Expo held this May in Xi’an.
