Women in Macau

Caring for child is often considered a work for women, and a similar situation was happened in Macau, but later, more women decide to receive education.[1] The improvement of the educational level of women in Macau has a lot to do with the improvement of the education system in Macau and the overall improvement of women's educational awareness. from 1970 to 2007, as the status of women in society improves and more people pay more attention to education, the female university students increased from 10.8 million to 77.4 million.[2] However,There are still illiterates among women in Macau. The possible solution is to change traditional thinking and allow more women to receive education. In addition, the distance between the two sexes can be eliminated through different levels of education.[1]

In the early 1990s, Macau women have become an indispensable force in the labor market. According to the Employment Survey in 1991 from Macau's Statistic and Census Bureau, the labor participation rate of women was 44.35%, then in 1996, the rate reached to 45.32%.[3] The income level of Macau employed women has increased in the 1990s, and the income gap with men has also narrowed. However, the proportion of women in low income class is much higher than men, vice versa, the proportion of women in high income class is much smaller. In 1994, Women with an average monthly income of less than 1000 yuan accounted for 78.47%, women with monthly income of 1,501 to 2,000 yuan accounted for 84.58%, and women with monthly income of 2,001 to 2,500 yuan accounted for 70.12%, but women with an average monthly income of more than 2,500 yuan accounted for only 28.1%, while men accounted for 71.86%.[4] This shows that the majority of Macau women's income levels are below average.

According to the survey by Xinxin Chen,[5] the majority of women surveyed believe that their status in the family is equal to men but socially less than men, and the younger women feel that their social status is more equal. This reflects the great improvement in the social status and family status of Macau women with the development of society, the improvement of women's education and the large participation in economic activities.

According to a survey from the Macau women's database, The respondents are mostly dissatisfied in communication with their families, also the living environment, and getting alone with husband plus children's education. Their life experiences is also vary on age. From age 18-30, communication with families and economic situation are mostly dissatisfied by the respondents. For age 31-55, children education and also the economic status are the things respondents worried about, after age 56, respondents are more concern about the communication with families. In general, the happiness of family life in Macau women will change according to different ages, income status and marital status.[6]

Florinda Chan, Formal Secretary for Administration and Justice of Macau, She began to study Portuguese at the age 10, then obtained a master's degree in business administration. She then received public administration training and became a civil servant at the age of 20. She was outstanding in the face of any challenge. At the age of 45, she became the Chief of Administration of Macau.[8] She is just one typical example of a Macau woman participating in politics and become very successful. After the period of colonization, and the Gender equality awareness has gradually entered the mainstream of decision-making, more women start to participate in political events and more women work in political positions.