Current Events > Court rules that ex husband must pay ex wife for housework she did while married

(+) Yeah! (+)

In a landmark ruling, a Beijing divorce court ordered a man to pay his wife for the household work that she did for five years of their marriage.

The woman will receive 50,000 yuan ($8,500) for five years of unpaid labour. The case is believed to be the first in the country to set a monetary worth for domestic labour by a spouse.

The ruling was made in accordance with the new civil code in the country that came into effect last month. It entitles a spouse to seek compensation from their partner during a divorce if they bear more domestic responsibility, including raising the child and caring for elderly relatives.

According to the court records, the woman, surnamed Wang, married her husband, surnamed Chen, in 2015. They started living separately in 2018, with their son living with his mother.

While Mr Chen had filed for divorce in 2020, Ms Wang was reluctant at first. But later, she requested a division of property and financial compensation on the grounds that her husband did not shoulder domestic and childcare responsibility.

Ruling in her favour, Beijings Fangshan District Court directed Mr Chen to pay her monthly alimony of 2,000 yuan ( $350), as well as the one-off payment of 50,000 yuan for the housework she has done.

The presiding judge was quoted by BBC News as saying that while the division of a couples joint property after marriage usually entails splitting tangible property, housework constitutes intangible property value. Housework for example, can improve the ability of the other spouse to achieve personal, individual academic growth, and this is not reflected in the tangible property, said the judge.

The ruling sparked a heated debate on social media about the financial value of domestic labour, which in a heterosexual relationship is mostly shouldered by woman, according to multiple surveys.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), women in China spend nearly four hours each day in unpaid labour which is roughly 2.5 times that of men.

Full ARticle: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-domestic-labour-housework-divorce-b1806524.html



I guess this is a lesson folks.

Do the dishes once in a while.

---

the straights are at it again

---

surprised I'm the only one that voted yes. Housework is a lot of work.

---

If its boomers receiving the short end of the stick this time then Im happy

That really is appalling to still see that attitude of Im husband youre wife prevalent in some conversations - Im just like bro thats real condescending but I guess 50 years later together they just understand it

if people in OP are youngbloods then idk what to tell them except its some real shit to have your life hand in the balance in the things that are not tangible but are apparently quantifiable

Im like marriage? yeahhhhhhhh naw... nawwwwwwwwww nowadays


---

Another reason you should never get married or even co habitat to add to the list.

If she's been paying her share of their living expenses the whole time, then sure, go for it. If he's been paying all or most of that and still has to pay her for the household work, then she should have to pay him back those costs.

---

Tsukasa1891 posted...

Another reason you should never get married or even co habitat to add to the list.

alt or lurk?

---

Very one sided so far

---

YlKES!
---

Fair, next.

---

I guess my feelings would depend on the overall work status of both people. If the husband goes to work at a Real Job(TM) and the wife is literally a house wife and taking care of the house and their child is in essence her job, then there at the base value doesn't seem to be a wrongful division of labour, though even then I imagine you could do weird math to show such circumstance. If they both have jobs and the wife is still responsible for all, or substantially unequal, domestic work, then yeah, absolutely.
---

My dad was absolutely fucked over by my mom's court appointed alimony. He had to put off retiring for years to pay her because she was too fucked in the head to hold a job.

---

Squall28 posted...

surprised I'm the only one that voted yes. Housework is a lot of work.

Quite a few have voted yes

---

EmbraceOfDeath posted...

If she's been paying her share of their living expenses the whole time, then sure, go for it. If he's been paying all or most of that and still has to pay her for the household work, then she should have to pay him back those costs.

EmbraceOfDeath posted...

How would you measure that tho?

---

This is wild.

on the flip side she is making serf wages