A woman in Beijing received a 50,000-yuan compensation for household labor during divorce proceedings. This was the first time in China a divorce case reached a decision like this, which sparked an outcry on Chinese social media on Monday and triggered discussions on Chinese women's status and place in families.
According to media report, the woman, surnamed Wang, asked for a 50,000-yuan household labor compensation because she was responsible for most of the domestic work since her marriage with her husband surnamed Chen in 2015, including taking care of children and maintaining the house.
The court, besides dividing the couple's common property equally, also ruled that Wang was legally divorced from her husband Chen and that he had to pay the compensation to Wang.
Feng Miao, the judge who presided the case explained that the decision was made according to the Article 1088 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, which stipulates that "Where one spouse is burdened with additional duties for raising children, looking after the elderly, or assisting the other spouse in his/her work, the said spouse has the right to request for compensation upon divorce against the other party, and the other party shall make due compensation."
Some netizens hailed the judgement, taking it as a recognition of full-time wives' work. Others said 50,000 yuan for household labor compensation to a full-time wife in Beijing is far from enough, noting that the payment for a house cleaner for six months is more than that.
Some netizens, taking the case further to the aspect of gender issue, alleged that women should not be full-time housewives anyway.
This case is a good start and regulations on the compensation for household labor in China would continue to improve.