Not-So-Desperate Housewives

By Yuan Yuan

After equally dividing community property with her husband， a housewife in Fujian Province received an additional 550，000 yuan （$85，000） in “household labor compensation.”

The verdict was made by a local court in July. It is one of several cases nationwide that saw housewives receive divorce compensation for additional domestic duties this year， thanks to an article in Chinas Civil Code， the civil law promulgated last year that went into force on January 1. The woman in this particular case， who had married to her husband for more than 20 years， obtained higher compensation than other such cases earlier this year， in which the housewives got between 15，000 yuan （$2，320） and 120，000 yuan（$18，550）.

Pay for the unpaid

Article 1088 in the Civil Code stipulates， “Where one spouse is burdened with additional duties for raising children， looking after the elderly， or assisting the other spouse in his or her work， the said spouse has the right to request compensation upon divorce against the other party， and the other party shall make due compensation.”

“This article is derived from an article in the Marriage Law，” said Li Shuangqing， a lawyer with Beijing Dentons Law Firm. The Marriage Law was abolished following the implementation of the Civil Code. “That article in the Marriage Law also supported divorcing spouses to request such compensation， but only on the condition of signing a prenuptial agreement. As it is rare for couples to sign this type of agreement in China， the request was previously uncommon in divorce proceedings.”

Today， the article in the Civil Code makes the request much easier as it doesnt require a prenuptial agreement. “It applies to both women and men applying for divorce， whoever shoulders additional duties in the household， basically，” Li said. So far， all the requests have been submitted by housewives.

The first one to receive the recompense was a housewife surnamed Wang from Beijing. It was her lawyer， also a woman， who suggested she make the appeal.

The 30-year-old housewife got married in 2015. One year later， she left work and chose to become a housewife. In the following three years， she did most of the household work， including taking care of the children and maintaining the house. Her husband first filed for divorce in 2019. When he filed for a third time， the revised Civil Code had just taken effect. The woman followed her lawyers suggestion and asked for a domestic work compensation of 180，000 yuan （$27，800）.