CRI听力:Survey Shows 90 percent Chinese Women Feel Pressured at Work

The recently-released Blue Paper on Women's Lives shows that Chinese women in 10 surveyed cities make around 36 percent of their family income.

90 percent of the women surveyed said they feel pressure at work. Nearly 34 percent of them said they feel "fair or very grave work pressure." Women in Beijing, the capital city, were the worst in this regard.

The survey also found that they work an average of 8.4 hours per day.

What is the source of this stress in women?

24-year-old Yang Cheng works in the PR department of a tourism company in Beijing. She says she works 10 to 11 hours everyday and frequently goes on business trips.

"In our industry, only the fittest survive and the inferior will be knocked out. So if you don't work hard, your position will soon be replaced by others. What's more, since our clients are from high-end companies, they are very demanding, and each case I am in charge of involves large amounts of money. So, I am bearing heavy responsibilities."

Yang Cheng was born in a small city in east China's Jiangsu Province. To create a comfortable living environment for their only daughter, Yang's parents gave her 200,000 yuan, about 32,000 US dollars to buy an apartment in downtown Beijing.

Compared with her peers who are still living in rented apartments and struggling to buy their own houses, Yang is lucky. But Yang says a 30-year mortgage makes her feel even more pressure.

"My monthly mortgage is 4200 yuan and my monthly salary is 8000 Yuan. That means the mortgage accounts for 50 percent of my income. And the rest of my salary covers my living expenses. So, I spend all I earn every month and I can't save money."

Yang says she wants to change to a bigger apartment if she gets married, but she worries that she's going to face increasing mortgage pressure.

33-year-old Wang Ying is a manager at a bank branch in Beijing. She has a decent job and a comfortable salary but also feels pressured.

"Our bank is a listed enterprise that values profits above all. Also, we take responsibility for our shareholders. So I feel pressured to accomplish these targets set by the headquarters every year."

Being the mother of a 4-year-old boy, Wang also feels pressured.

"My son will soon go to elementary school, and I feel pressure in choosing a school for him. As parents, we want him to receive the best education. But it's very difficult to be enrolled in the best schools."

Wang says, since she and her husband have no time to take care of their son, they live with their parents. That means the couple must cover the living expenses of five family members.

Yang Cheng and Wang Ying give us a glimpse of the busy working lives of women in Beijing.

The survey found that the source of Chinese women's stress at work include salary below their expectations, fierce competition, high workloads and difficulty in striking a balance between work and life.

Besides professional life, the blue paper also covers aspects such as quality of their life and spending habits.

The survey shows that urban Chinese women value family life most. The respondents gave the most credit to a "happy relationship and harmonious family" above six other quality-of-life indicators, including health, a sound living environment, a satisfactory job and a pay rise.

The blue paper was jointly compiled by Women of China, a magazine run by the All-China Women's Federation, the Huakun Women's Life Survey Center and the Huakun Women's Consumption Guidance Center. It drew on the results of a survey conducted in 2010 among 10,000 households in 10 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Taiyuan.

For CRI, I am Zhang Ru.