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I. The current situation of ethnic minority women’ s economic security One of the most prominent problems faced by the international community is how to ensure the e-conomic security of the elderly, and how to help those elderly people who have lost the ability to work to be properly cared for. According to Yang Shijie’s investigation, 75% of the poor population in Yunnan are ethnic minorities, and of this fig-ure, minority women are more impoverished than men. 1 . The poverty rate in Yunnan is a little bit higher than the national average poverty level. Although Yunnan’s economic indicators have made considerable progress, they have yet to reach the national average because of the province’s ho-mogenous industrial structure, low level of indus-trialization, and high proportion of resource indus-tries. The average wage of workers in Yunnan is only 85. 85% of the national average wage, and the poverty rate is higher than the national aver-age. 2 . There is a significant number of elderly women without pensions, and their poverty rate is high in Yunnan. Due to the dual urban-rural structure of the social and economic system, as well as the design issues related to the social pension security system connected with employment, the number of elderly women without pensions is quite significant in Chi-
na. In ethnic minority areas, only 24. 12% of peo-ple over the age of 60 have a pension, among them, the number of women is considerably lower than for men, accounting for only 10%. Elderly women from ethnic minorities are further excluded from the social pension security system. Only a small population of elderly ethnic women enjoy the benefits of the system, and their average monthly pension is significantly lower than that of the men. Compared with elderly men, elderly women rely more on other members of the family. 3 . The high rate of widowhood brings difficul-ties to the elderly. According to a sampling survey of 10% of the national population in 2010 , the widower ratio is 29. 55%, and widow ratio is 70. 45% among eth-nic minorities aged over 60 . Ethnic minority women devote more energy to unpaid housework in their youth and middle age, and their chances of finding employment are low. This means they normally de-pend on their spouse when they become old, how-ever, the loss of their spouse makes them even poorer, and increases their risk of falling into pov-erty. 4 . The ethnic minority women ’s property rights are difficult to be protected. Because of the influence of outmoded feudal i-deas in the ethnic minority villages, women gener-ally have no right to inherit property. For example, among the Pumi, property is inherited by the men, and women generally have no right to inherit. The
case is the same with the Naxi ethnicity. In the in-heritance systems of the ethnic minority people in Yunnan, wives rarely have the right of inherit-ance;the custom of“passing property to the men, but not the women” is still quite prevalent. If the husband dies, the wife will not only find it difficult to inherit her husband’s property, but may also lose her own property, including land rights. This leads to a low rate of property ownership among widows. II. Analysis of the causes of vulnerability of the gender structure 1 . Cultural lag American sociologist W. F. Ogburn was the first to use this concept, which refers to the time lag between material culture and non - material culture in the course of social change. Generally speaking, change in material culture occurs faster than in non -material culture, and they are not synchronized, so there is a gap between them. Ethnic minority women in Yunnan have been af-fected by the patrilineal system up to the present day, which influences the thought and behavior of all ethnic groups, and gradually builds a psycho-logical barrier in the ethnic women’ s minds, con-straining their talent and creativity. Yunnan is lo-cated in China’s southwest frontier region, and the ethnic minorities live in remote and isolated moun-tainous areas, where the concept of the low status of women is ingrained, and thus not easily changed. 2 . The cumulative effect of education and em-ployment Compared with boys, there are different edu-cational expectations on or investments in the girls in the social culture, which brings disadvantages to women looking for employment of in their youth and middle age. Because they can generally only involve themselves in housework, it is not possible for them to accumulate employment experiences, and this leads to a negative economic status when they become old. 1) Low level of education. Due to the tradi-tional influence of “valuing sons over daughters”,
the number of ethnic minority women who have not attended school is significantly higher than that of men; the number of ethnic minority women who have never received an education is more than twice as high as the number of men. The phenome-non of early marriage and childbearing in ethnic minority areas is still prominent. Due to the influ-ence of early marriage culture, the girls do not generally wish to receive a higher education. Addi-tionally, because of the development of tourism, girls tend to drop out of school very early and in-volve themselves in business or becoming tour guides. All these factors lead to ethnic minority women’s lower level of education. Because they do not receive a higher, or even elementary educa-tion, women’s lives are concentrated around the family and housework. 2 ) Devotion to housework. The elderly ethnic minority women not only have to take part in agri-cultural production, but they also have to take care of the “left-behind” children whose parents have left to work in urban areas. For instance, De’ang women play an important role in family, social and economic activities; they have to bear the load of heavy housework every day, including carrying wa-ter, collecting firewood, cooking, feeding pigs, cattle and children, weaving, washing clothes and farming. The Bulang women, together with the men, have created the ancient Bulang culture, and women play the role of “main tentpole” in the housework and farming. According to our investi-gations of the Yi in Chuxiong of Yunnan province, Yi women spend on average over six hours each day on housework, and most men almost never par-ticipate in housework. 3 ) Unemployment or low paid occupation. Ethnic minority women’s degree of participation in social labor is low, however, their housework du-ties are taken for granted, and not recognized by the wider society, so their labor value is underesti-mated, even ignored. Due to their low level of ed-ucation and contribution to unpaid housework, a lot of ethnic minority women are unemployed. E-
ven though a small number of them are in employ-ment, their jobs are concentrated in the low in-come industries, and few of them are supported by social insurance. 3 . Traditional gender roles in the division of labor Because of the traditional gender roles in the division of labor, the social expectations for the women’s role is still family-centered. This means women have to bear a lot of housework duties and child rearing responsibilities. Due to women’s spe-cial physiological characteristics, women have a double burden: the responsibility of human pro-duction and social production. However, under the influence of gender inequality, women who have made great contributions to the development of so-ciety and humanity have been subjected to unfair treatment. Their contribution is regarded as a bur-den unique to women or indeed the women’s natu-ral weakness, and can even become a discrimina-tory factor in employment and promotion—this is a great injustice to women. In summary, it seems that the structure of the fragility of elderly ethnic minority women is a sim-ply an issue of sex difference, but it essentially re-flects the social system and conceptual culture of“valuing sons over daughters” which is ingrained in the minority areas, and is an issue of gender in-equality. III. Countermeasures and suggestions The elderly ethnic minority women are a spe-cial group in China’s aging population. This group shows a structural vulnerability due to such as in-fluences of ethnicity and regional location, eco-nomic conditions, educational level, marital sta-tus. From the perspective of social gender, this paper studies the economic security status of ethnic aged women, analyzes the problems of economic security for this group, and puts forward some poli-cy recommendations for improving the economic se-curity situation of the elderly women in ethnic mi-nority areas. 1 . The state should increase investment in tye economic development of ethnic minority areas in order to provide more jobs and solve the problem of employment of women. Economic development in the minority areas could provide adequate economic security to improve the living conditions of the eld-erly women in those areas. 2 . The concept of gender equality needs to be strengthened. Women should enjoy equal rights in education, and equal employment opportunities as men, as well as equal rights in the husband-wife relationship. In addition, we cannot simply take each gender as exactlythe same, but should under-stand the psychological and physiological difference between men and woman, and pursue gender e-quality in terms of society, personality, opportuni-ties, and rights. 3 . National policy should afford some recogni-tion to women and their capacity for childbirth. Due to physiological factors, women have to take the responsibility of childbirth and feeding the child, however, they also have to work . Women’s contributions to the family will inevitably lead to their inferior position in terms of social professional competition. Therefore, when policies are drawn up, the physiological characteristics of men and women should be considered, moreover, gender awareness and gender equality should be a part of various policies. 4 . Policies should protect women’s employ-ment rights, and ethnic minority areas should en-courage women to go out to work. The state should make policies to protect women’s employment rights, solve the problem of sexual discrimination which might exist in the workplace, and create e-qual employment opportunities so as to reduce the probability of elderly women from ethnic minority areas becoming impoverished . 5 . Improve the urban and rural pension sys-tem, and improve women’s pension insurance cov-erage rate.
na. In ethnic minority areas, only 24. 12% of peo-ple over the age of 60 have a pension, among them, the number of women is considerably lower than for men, accounting for only 10%. Elderly women from ethnic minorities are further excluded from the social pension security system. Only a small population of elderly ethnic women enjoy the benefits of the system, and their average monthly pension is significantly lower than that of the men. Compared with elderly men, elderly women rely more on other members of the family. 3 . The high rate of widowhood brings difficul-ties to the elderly. According to a sampling survey of 10% of the national population in 2010 , the widower ratio is 29. 55%, and widow ratio is 70. 45% among eth-nic minorities aged over 60 . Ethnic minority women devote more energy to unpaid housework in their youth and middle age, and their chances of finding employment are low. This means they normally de-pend on their spouse when they become old, how-ever, the loss of their spouse makes them even poorer, and increases their risk of falling into pov-erty. 4 . The ethnic minority women ’s property rights are difficult to be protected. Because of the influence of outmoded feudal i-deas in the ethnic minority villages, women gener-ally have no right to inherit property. For example, among the Pumi, property is inherited by the men, and women generally have no right to inherit. The
case is the same with the Naxi ethnicity. In the in-heritance systems of the ethnic minority people in Yunnan, wives rarely have the right of inherit-ance;the custom of“passing property to the men, but not the women” is still quite prevalent. If the husband dies, the wife will not only find it difficult to inherit her husband’s property, but may also lose her own property, including land rights. This leads to a low rate of property ownership among widows. II. Analysis of the causes of vulnerability of the gender structure 1 . Cultural lag American sociologist W. F. Ogburn was the first to use this concept, which refers to the time lag between material culture and non - material culture in the course of social change. Generally speaking, change in material culture occurs faster than in non -material culture, and they are not synchronized, so there is a gap between them. Ethnic minority women in Yunnan have been af-fected by the patrilineal system up to the present day, which influences the thought and behavior of all ethnic groups, and gradually builds a psycho-logical barrier in the ethnic women’ s minds, con-straining their talent and creativity. Yunnan is lo-cated in China’s southwest frontier region, and the ethnic minorities live in remote and isolated moun-tainous areas, where the concept of the low status of women is ingrained, and thus not easily changed. 2 . The cumulative effect of education and em-ployment Compared with boys, there are different edu-cational expectations on or investments in the girls in the social culture, which brings disadvantages to women looking for employment of in their youth and middle age. Because they can generally only involve themselves in housework, it is not possible for them to accumulate employment experiences, and this leads to a negative economic status when they become old. 1) Low level of education. Due to the tradi-tional influence of “valuing sons over daughters”,
the number of ethnic minority women who have not attended school is significantly higher than that of men; the number of ethnic minority women who have never received an education is more than twice as high as the number of men. The phenome-non of early marriage and childbearing in ethnic minority areas is still prominent. Due to the influ-ence of early marriage culture, the girls do not generally wish to receive a higher education. Addi-tionally, because of the development of tourism, girls tend to drop out of school very early and in-volve themselves in business or becoming tour guides. All these factors lead to ethnic minority women’s lower level of education. Because they do not receive a higher, or even elementary educa-tion, women’s lives are concentrated around the family and housework. 2 ) Devotion to housework. The elderly ethnic minority women not only have to take part in agri-cultural production, but they also have to take care of the “left-behind” children whose parents have left to work in urban areas. For instance, De’ang women play an important role in family, social and economic activities; they have to bear the load of heavy housework every day, including carrying wa-ter, collecting firewood, cooking, feeding pigs, cattle and children, weaving, washing clothes and farming. The Bulang women, together with the men, have created the ancient Bulang culture, and women play the role of “main tentpole” in the housework and farming. According to our investi-gations of the Yi in Chuxiong of Yunnan province, Yi women spend on average over six hours each day on housework, and most men almost never par-ticipate in housework. 3 ) Unemployment or low paid occupation. Ethnic minority women’s degree of participation in social labor is low, however, their housework du-ties are taken for granted, and not recognized by the wider society, so their labor value is underesti-mated, even ignored. Due to their low level of ed-ucation and contribution to unpaid housework, a lot of ethnic minority women are unemployed. E-
ven though a small number of them are in employ-ment, their jobs are concentrated in the low in-come industries, and few of them are supported by social insurance. 3 . Traditional gender roles in the division of labor Because of the traditional gender roles in the division of labor, the social expectations for the women’s role is still family-centered. This means women have to bear a lot of housework duties and child rearing responsibilities. Due to women’s spe-cial physiological characteristics, women have a double burden: the responsibility of human pro-duction and social production. However, under the influence of gender inequality, women who have made great contributions to the development of so-ciety and humanity have been subjected to unfair treatment. Their contribution is regarded as a bur-den unique to women or indeed the women’s natu-ral weakness, and can even become a discrimina-tory factor in employment and promotion—this is a great injustice to women. In summary, it seems that the structure of the fragility of elderly ethnic minority women is a sim-ply an issue of sex difference, but it essentially re-flects the social system and conceptual culture of“valuing sons over daughters” which is ingrained in the minority areas, and is an issue of gender in-equality. III. Countermeasures and suggestions The elderly ethnic minority women are a spe-cial group in China’s aging population. This group shows a structural vulnerability due to such as in-fluences of ethnicity and regional location, eco-nomic conditions, educational level, marital sta-tus. From the perspective of social gender, this paper studies the economic security status of ethnic aged women, analyzes the problems of economic security for this group, and puts forward some poli-cy recommendations for improving the economic se-curity situation of the elderly women in ethnic mi-nority areas. 1 . The state should increase investment in tye economic development of ethnic minority areas in order to provide more jobs and solve the problem of employment of women. Economic development in the minority areas could provide adequate economic security to improve the living conditions of the eld-erly women in those areas. 2 . The concept of gender equality needs to be strengthened. Women should enjoy equal rights in education, and equal employment opportunities as men, as well as equal rights in the husband-wife relationship. In addition, we cannot simply take each gender as exactlythe same, but should under-stand the psychological and physiological difference between men and woman, and pursue gender e-quality in terms of society, personality, opportuni-ties, and rights. 3 . National policy should afford some recogni-tion to women and their capacity for childbirth. Due to physiological factors, women have to take the responsibility of childbirth and feeding the child, however, they also have to work . Women’s contributions to the family will inevitably lead to their inferior position in terms of social professional competition. Therefore, when policies are drawn up, the physiological characteristics of men and women should be considered, moreover, gender awareness and gender equality should be a part of various policies. 4 . Policies should protect women’s employ-ment rights, and ethnic minority areas should en-courage women to go out to work. The state should make policies to protect women’s employment rights, solve the problem of sexual discrimination which might exist in the workplace, and create e-qual employment opportunities so as to reduce the probability of elderly women from ethnic minority areas becoming impoverished . 5 . Improve the urban and rural pension sys-tem, and improve women’s pension insurance cov-erage rate.