85% people say work-life balance difficult for working mothers

BEIJING - About 85 percent of people in a recent survey said they observed difficulties of working mothers they know in juggling their jobs with their families.

The survey, released by the China Youth Daily, polled 2,012 people, about 90 percent of whom are married and 62.7 percent have their own children.

More than 60 percent said they knew cases in which working mothers were blamed for neglecting their families, while over 48 percent said there were also complaints about women being less committed in work because of family issues.

About 86.1 percent of people surveyed said giving birth to and raising a child could affect a woman's career development, and 37.8 percent said working mothers could easily miss out on promotion opportunities.

A 41-year-old accountant in Beijing told the paper that many working women she knew had thought about quitting their jobs to take care of their babies full-time.

While people appreciated the government's policies to protect women at work, 67 percent of the people polled said such policies needed to be more practical, like allowing pregnant employees to work at home if possible.

Many people in the survey suggested that working mothers should express their needs and difficulties to employers.