A recent college research report found that female employees of foreign-invested companies are leading a hard life after their babies are born. More than half of these women even have to forego maternity leave for some reason.

A Fudan University research center which focuses on social developments has made public their latest findings on the benefits and living-conditions of female employees at multinationals.

They found that fierce competition has imposed great pressure on these women, including both high-income white-collars and relatively low-income blue-collars. In fact the blue-collar women seem to bear a heavier burden both psychologically and economically.

Most white-collar women are agonizing over whether to have a baby or not, or struggling to keep a balance between family and work responsibilities after giving birth, the report said.

Once these women commence employment with the multinationals, they find themselves in a very competitive workplace. To retain their current post and earnings, along with the high living standard and luxury outlays, they have to surrender to endless work and life-long study. If they aspire to promotion, that means no children. If they already have a baby, it means exhausting their body and soul between the home and the office.

The research group found that 58.6 percent of such women with babies didn't have maternity leave for these reasons. In the context of globalization, perhaps a baby-sitting service is required for such multinationals, as in many foreign countries, but these have yet to be introduced in China.

(Shanghai Daily November 22, 2005)