A person leading a team at a financial company earns more than her husband. Another is pursuing his dream of becoming a civil servant. The third is a budding influencer who aspires to be the family’s breadwinner.
Every woman is raising a young child and doesn’t want another – no matter what their husbands say or what incentives the Chinese government puts in place due to concerns about its aging population.
Gone are the days of China’s one-child policy. At a recent political forum, President Xi Jinping urged women to assume greater family responsibilities and “play a unique role in promoting the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation.”
These women saw different roles for themselves. This generation was born into small families, and many girls grew up as only children and were given opportunities previously only given to boys. Their own mothers did not have multiple children to care for, often working outside the home and setting an example for their daughters.
“I have to have my own career.”
Zhao Yisi, 29 years old, project manager
Joyce Zhao had worked as a project manager at a small technology company in Beijing for three years and was looking forward to a promotion. But her prospects dimmed when she became pregnant with her son, Ming.
Her boss, a woman who had been advocating for her to take a leadership role, left the team while Ms. Zhao was on five months of maternity leave. When she returned to work, her new boss told her she was falling behind and needed to work harder.
“I fell into self-doubt and wondered if having a baby at this time was the wrong thing to do,” Ms Zhao said.
But, she said, she never thought about quitting her job and staying home.
“I can only rely on myself,” Ms. Zhao said. “I have to have a career and I can’t give it up for anything.”
A few months after Ming’s first birthday, 29-year-old Zhao decided to leave the corporate world and found a job at one of China’s largest technology companies.
Her husband wanted to have a second child, but Ms. Zhao was not interested. Her life was hard enough. She commutes four hours to and from get off work and works long hours, which means she doesn’t get home until after Xiao Ming’s bedtime. She wakes up at 6:30 in the morning and gives herself an hour to read and exercise, and another hour to play with her son and have breakfast.
After graduating from college, Ms. Zhao gave up her dream of being a civil servant to pursue a higher-paying job. Now, she is married and has children, and plans to take the extremely difficult civil service examination.
“I divide my time, energy and money into different parts, leaving the largest part for myself and the rest for my parents, husband and son,” Ms. Zhao said. “I can’t let them take everything away from me.”
“I don’t think there’s any benefit to having two kids.”
Guo Chunlei, 32, Influencer
Before Guo Chunlei got married, she worked at a bank in the eastern city of Hangzhou, earning about $2,000 a month, not bad by Chinese standards. Her parents bought a small apartment and a car, so she spent most of her salary on beauty, fashion and travel.
When she decided to have a baby in 2022, her husband and in-laws, who ran a thriving family business in construction, encouraged her to switch to a less demanding job so she could have more time for her children. Ms. Guo agreed and joined a listed company as an accountant. But the job is repetitive and unfulfilling, and her income is only about one-third of what it was before.
Big pay cuts are becoming a bigger and bigger problem. As her daughter Tianyi grew up, her expenses began to soar. Early education courses alone account for a third of her salary.
Seeking extra income and a sense of purpose, Ms. Guo opened a mom influencer account on lifestyle app Xiaohongshu last year. A post she wrote about planning a traditional Chinese birthday party for her daughter received tens of thousands of views and opened the door to brand collaborations.
She now spends her weeknights writing descriptions, editing photos, and doing product research. Taking photos with Tianyi at a nearby park has become a weekend family activity.
Guo’s account already has more than 10,000 followers, and she earns more from product sponsorships than from her day job. She is considering becoming a full-time influencer and hopes to take over as the family’s primary breadwinner.
Ms. Guo recalled the sacrifices her parents made to provide for her and her younger brother. This made her determined to take a different path.
“I don’t think having two children would be good for myself or Tianyi,” she said.
“I want to do something for myself.
Tang Pingjuan, 36 years old, financial manager
Like many working women in China today, 36-year-old Tang Pingjuan has higher expectations than many of her predecessors.
She recalls growing up under the old one-child policy, receiving undivided attention from her father, a train driver, and her mother, a teacher. Like many girls of her generation, she was given opportunities once reserved for boys.
When it came time to go to college, Ms. Tang traveled hundreds of miles from home to pursue a degree in mathematics, a field dominated by men. (Nearly one-third of Chinese women now have a college degree, up from less than 1% in 1990.)
After graduation, Ms. Tang found a job in finance, and then at the age of 25, she took a year off and used her savings to travel to more than a dozen countries. Now 36, she leads a team at a private financial company in Guangzhou, a bustling metropolis where she lives with her husband and 4-year-old daughter Ning.
Ms. Tang earns more than her husband and makes investment decisions for the family.
Six months after Ning was born, Ms. Tang returned to the office and left the child in the care of her grandmother. On the weekends, the family enjoys a “staycation” at a luxury hotel.
Lately, she has been considering a promising job opportunity in nearby Shenzhen, which might mean being separated from her family. Her husband and in-laws opposed the move, but Ms. Tang did not want to be hindered. She said she hasn’t completely ruled out having a second child, but it’s not something she’s considering right now.
She said: “I put myself before my family, which makes me feel very selfish, but life is still long and I want to do something for myself.”
