EmploymentAgeDiscriminationonWomen

【Abstract】Employment age discrimination against women is not an unusual phenomenon in China.Through describing the present situation and negative effect of this phenomenon，this paper claims laws are very important weapon to eliminate age discrimination against women.

【Key Words】Age discrimination； phenomenon； elimination strategy

Introduction

The status of women in China is not optimistic.According to Niu Gengli，an expert in Employment Service Center of Beijing said：“In a job fair made in Beijing recently 60% of the companies have limited the age on female job seekers.”[1]It is very difficult for women of the aged 23-35 to find jobs，for women of these ages pay a lot of attention to breastfeeding and taking care of children.However，discrimination against women have great negative effects on our society，hence we should take all the actions to eliminate it.

Ⅰ.Age Discrimination in Our Country

In nowadays，many companies employ the female job-seekers with the condition that they will not be marry or give birth within the next three years.This kind of phenomenon not only exists in many small companies，even in some famous or big enterprises.According to Investment Newspaper of China，Guang Da Bank，a famous bank in China was reported in 2012 to ask the new young female staffs to sign the contract to promise not to give birth for the next three years.In order to get the job，the new staffs signed the contract without any hesitation.[2]Furthermore，some universities also are tend to employ male teachers.

Ⅱ.Negative Effects of Age Discrimination

Now the government has not taken any measures to deal with age discrimination against women.But if this situation continues in this way the result will be devastating，for it is bound to cause our society to lose the talent of women and hinder economic development of China.When graduate students begins to put his or her knowledge into practice，they are refused due to their ages.This will make female students doubt the value of their higher education.Now the competition among the world is in fact the competition of knowledge.Without enough highly educated human resources，China will have no advantage in the fierce competition.

Female talents is a large power group，so we shouldn't look down upon them.According to website of China Education，the statistic data made by Education Department of China in 2012 showed that the number of female undergraduate students is larger than that of the male students for four consecutive years，that the female postgraduates surpass males for consecutive three years，and the number of the female Ph.D is in increase.[3]Females are playing more and more important role in various kinds of fields，in even higher technology.Liu Yang，the first female astronaut is a very good example.

Ⅲ.Strategies of Eliminating the Age Discrimination

We need a perfect set of laws urgently to protect the human right of women.Though we already have some laws concerning gender discrimination，such as “Law on the protection of Right and Interest of Women”，the range that the laws mentioned is too small.They only states that female should be paid the same salary as males for the same job，that female shouldnt be discriminated by the type of the job，that female should be provided more opportunities of getting jobs.Up to now，there is not any law to regulate the age discrimination of women.We should call for listing the age discrimination of women to the content of the laws.We keep silent when our human rights are infringed because we cant find any law weapon to against the discrimination powerfully.In US，in the 1950s，females also encountered age limits in the employments.But in the interests of female many laws are enacted one by one accordingly.In 1967，the “Anti-age Discrimination in Employment”； in 1978，the “Anti-pregnancy Discrimination Act”；[4]Laws are very important weapons to fight against the age discrimination.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

It is unfair for women between 23-35to be refused in employment only because they are old enough to be marry or give birth.The marrying and having baby are our rights which cant be deprived of.To eliminate the employment age discrimination the related laws are necessary，but the most important thing is that we should know how to use laws to punish the people who fringe our human rights.

References：

[1]Niu Gengli.Analysis of the Phenomenon of 35 Years Old. News Watch March 6.2014：28-30.Web.

[2]Huang Min.Guang Da Bank of China is Suspected of Depriving the Rights of Giving Birth of Female Staffs.Investment Newspaper 28 July.2012.

[3]Cheng Yunpeng.The Ratio of Highly Educated Females to Males Changed.ChinaEducation.com.13 Nov.2013.

[4]Pan Yuhao.Legal Analysis of the Gender Discrimination in Employments.Social Science Edition.U of Nantong P，July 2010.52-56.

作者簡介：黃捧，女，河南許昌人，西安電子科技大學研究生院2013級外國語言學及應用語言學專業學生。