A Beijing court ordered a man to pay his ex-wife the equivalent of $ 7,700 in compensation for housework done
during their few-year marriage
.
The divorce case, historic in its scope, was decided by the Fangshan District People's Court in accordance with the Civil Code, which entered into force on January 1, 2021, providing that a spouse who takes on greater responsibility in education of children, in the care of elderly family members or in assisting with unpaid household chores, may request compensation from the partner in the process of divorce.
The amount should be left to the parties, but in case of nothing, the court intervenes.
According to local media, the court ruled that husband Chen will have to pay his ex-wife Wang the sum of 50,000 yuan for disengaging from housekeeping duties.
Chen left their son with Wang on his way to work and
"did not care for or participate in any kind of housework,"
the woman told the court.
The couple married in 2015 and separated three years later.
The son lived with Wang, but Chen filed for divorce last year.
After the initial reluctance, Wang agreed to terminate the relationship legally, requesting the property division and financial compensation, defined by the court as 50,000 yuan, in addition to the 2,000 yuan (about $ 310) of monthly child custody maintenance.
Judge Feng Miao, the holder of the case, said that the division of "tangible property" would not have been possible by including housework which, however, "can improve the other spouse's ability to have personal and individual career growth."
The judge explained, in the absence of indications from the code, that he considered Chen's standard of living, income, the time the couple spent together and what Wang did for the family.
The case is the first to fix a monetary value to domestic work
with the new code that covers the rights of the person, family and contractual.
The verdict sparked a social media debate in Mandarin about the financial value of household chores that are predominantly done by women in heterosexual marriage, according to multiple polls.
Data from the National Statistical Office indicated that
married women spent more than twice as much time spent on housework as husbands in 2016
, more than in 1996.