Global phenomenon

Jia, a public relations manager in Shanghai who asked that her full name not be published, said that when she graduated from college in 2015, it was not uncommon to be asked in job interviews about whether she had a boyfriend, or whether she planned to get married or have children in the next few years.

"Of course I did not enjoy answering these inquiries because they had nothing to do with my qualifications and it felt like the company was not treating me as a competitive job candidate like they would treat a male counterpart," she said.

After working in the advertising and marketing industry for nearly six years, she began to understand some companies' reservations about hiring young women.

"I'd encountered a few colleagues who had to abruptly leave their positions after becoming pregnant. Some have returned but the priority of their lives has obviously turned to taking care of kids," she said. "I wonder if there is any solution to this dilemma. Is working and having children so irreconcilable?

The answer is both yes and no, experts said.

Li Na, a professor at China University of Labor Relations, said the negative impact of fertility on female workforce participation is a global phenomenon and rearing children is bound to chip away at time devoted to work.

"Some working mothers who initially planned to just take some time off to raise children ultimately found themselves becoming full-time mothers," Li said. "The third-child policy will certainly add to the misgivings of employers, especially when it comes to giving promotions to or renewing labor contracts with female employees."

The female labor participation rate in China is above the global average. In 2019, about 61 percent of Chinese women aged 15 or above were working, compared with 54 percent for Japan, 57 percent for the United States and 56 percent for Germany, data from the World Bank shows.