Employment Discrimination of Chinese Unmarried Women

摘要

Employment discrimination has been existed through the history and gender discrimination is one of the most common one. The discrimination against women is the most discussed one but the discrimination against unmarried women is easily ignored. While comparing women and men, marital status is considered as one of the factors that decreases women's competitiveness. However, the marital status, as some people complain, turns into a potential advantage while comparing two equally qualified women. This study focuses on main questions: 1) Does the discrimination against unmarried women while comparing with married women really exist, or is it just reasonable selection? 2) If the discrimination exists, how much do unmarried women suffer in both employment rate and income aspects? 3) Does the education level play an important role in the discrimination? China is facing fifteen million people in employment pressure annually. No matter how small the discriminatory proportion is, it becomes a huge social problem due to the huge base number. The econometric part shows the existence of discrimination in both employment rate and income. Unmarried women are facing a lower employment rate at certain ages and the unmarried women with primary education or secondary education are facing a lower income.