What does this research mean for the field?

In post-reform China, state control and the market economy interact to undermine the reconciliation of public-sector work and mothering in state-owned enterprises by creating incompatible job demands, threatening job security, and weakening childcare resources. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONTRADICTORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.CHALLENGES_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how the interaction between state control and market economic forces obstructs maternal employment and work-family reconciliation within Chinese state-owned enterprises.

September 14, 2026Work Employment and SocietyOpen Access

When Public-Sector Employment Becomes Unfriendly to Mothers: How State Control and the Market Economy Impede Mothering in State-Owned Enterprises in Post-Reform China

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Authors

LCLingxi ChenChinese University of Hong Kong

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Implication

Qualitative study reveals how state control and market forces hinder work-family balance for mothers in state-owned enterprises, highlighting emerging institutional challenges to childcare.

Key Points

To examine how the interaction between state control and market economic forces obstructs maternal employment and work-family reconciliation within Chinese state-owned enterprises.
Ethnographic fieldwork conducted within a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
In-depth qualitative interviews with 21 mothers experienced in working for state-owned companies in post-reform China, evaluated through work–family interface and gender regime frameworks.
State control and market pressures act as intersecting macrosystems that increase job demands incompatible with domestic caregiving obligations while eroding employment stability.
Commercialized workplace reforms weaken formal and informal organizational resources historically available to assist working mothers with childcare.
Tensions manifest primarily as acute work-to-family conflict and structural obstacles preventing mothers from achieving a sustainable fit between family demands and workplace resources.

Cite This Study

Lingxi Chen (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa7b3aa0926e14a848b2c91 https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170261462742

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Implication

Qualitative study reveals how state control and market forces hinder work-family balance for mothers in state-owned enterprises, highlighting emerging institutional challenges to childcare.

When Public-Sector Employment Becomes Unfriendly to Mothers: How State Control and the Market Economy Impede Mothering in State-Owned Enterprises in Post-Reform China

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

When Public-Sector Employment Becomes Unfriendly to Mothers: How State Control and the Market Economy Impede Mothering in State-Owned Enterprises in Post-Reform China

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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