Chinese court: Wife to be paid for housework

A Chinese divorce court has ordered a husband to pay his wife more than $7,700 in compensation for the housework she performed during five years of marriage, in a landmark decision that activists hope will lead to greater protections for women in China.

The court in Beijing said this week that the husband was obligated to compensate his wife because housework carries “intangible property value” and should be considered an asset, according to Chinese news reports.

The decision comes amid global debate about whether societies should do more to recognize and compensate women for work they perform at home. Studies show that in many countries, women shoulder a disproportionate burden of household labor, hindering their ambitions and career opportunities.

While some commentators in China hailed the case as a breakthrough, many people said the compensation was inadequate, noting that full-time nannies in China earn far more.

“This is so unfair to women,” wrote one user on Weibo, a microblogging site. A hashtag about the case had been viewed more than 570 million times as of late Wednesday.

“Let’s see who dares be a housewife,” said another.

Women perform an average of two hours and six minutes of housework each day in China, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with 45 minutes for men. The legal system has become a focus of many complaints, because regulations make it difficult for women to obtain divorces and protect assets.

The Chinese government has offered some policies aimed at better protecting women’s rights, including a 2016 law against domestic violence. But enforcement of many such laws remains inconsistent.