农村中老年女性的照料劳动及其权利困境

Care Labor of Middle-aged and Elderly Women in Rural Areas and Their Rights Dilemma

在农村经济模式和人口结构变迁中,照料劳动日益成为中老年女性的家庭任务。然而,在承担繁重照料劳动责任的同时,农村中老年女性群体面临着严重的相对贫困及权利保障困境。造成此困境的一个重要原因是,现有的女性权益保障法体系主要以“社会劳动”为切口展开,但忽视了照料劳动对农村女性参与社会劳动的束缚。这一缺陷导致农村女性在“照料惩罚”效应作用下,难以获得实质性就业平等,并在农村家庭转型的冲击下面临进一步的权益减损。因此,相关法律制度的改进需要考虑农村女性面临的全周期交叉弱势,在充分认知“农村——女性——老年”交叉弱势危害的基础上,将照料劳动纳入法律保护与调控的范畴。这需要法律制度在承认照料劳动价值的前提下,通过多种手段优化照料劳动的分配机制,以保障照料劳动提供者的合法权益。

Along with the transformation of the economic model and demographic structure in rural China,caregiving has increasingly become the responsibility of middle-aged and elderly women.However,while bearing the substantial burden of caregiving,these rural women confront significant relative poverty and challenges in securing their rights.One primary reason for this predicament is that the current legal framework for women's rights protection predominantly focuses on"social labor"but overlooks the constraints caregiving places on rural women's participation in social labor.This oversight results in rural women facing dfficulties in achieving genuine employment equality due to the"caregiving penalty"and further erosion of their rights amidst the transformation of rural family.Therefore,improvements in related legal systems need to consider the intersectional vulnerabilities faced by rural women throughout their lives.Recognizing the compounded challenges stemming from the intersection of"rural-woman-elderly"identities,it is crucial to include caregiving within the ambit of legal protection and regulation.This requires the legal system to acknowledge the value of caregiving labor and employ various means to optimize its distribution mechanism,ensuring the legitimate rights of those providing caregiving labor are protected.