Is China’s party newspaper carrying more stories highlighting women’s role as mothers?

A new study suggests that China's official newspaper, People's Daily, has been emphasizing the role of women as mothers more frequently in recent years. Researchers analyzing 125,532 articles published between 1990 and 2023 found that the paper's rhetoric has increasingly positioned women within the private sphere, particularly in familial and caregiving roles, while reducing references to their public participation.

The study, published in the Frontiers in Sociology journal, used two vocabulary sets to track language trends: one for public sphere terms like "leading woman" and "entrepreneurship," and another for private sphere terms such as "family," "childbearing," and "loving mother." Although the connection between women and the private sphere remained strong throughout the period, the number of public-related terms dropped sharply from the late 1990s onwards, reaching its lowest point in 2018.

This shift coincided with broader institutional and ideological changes, including the deepening of market reforms and the shift of social reproduction costs onto households. While the study noted a modest rebound in public rhetoric from 2020, it suggested that this may be a response to demographic pressures, labor market needs, and international attention to gender equality.

The researchers argued that China's authorities could better promote women's status and participation in public life by providing stronger institutional support for women's education and career aspirations.