A man has been ordered by a court to pay over three million Naira in compensation to his ex-wife for the chores she did during their five-year marriage. The first of its kind ruling has sparked discussion in the country over the value of unpaid domestic duties.
Wang, a homemaker, demanded restitution equivalent to $24,700 from her husband after he filed for divorce at a district court in Beijing in October. Wang said she was left to take care of the couple’s child and housework alone, as her husband “barely cared about or participated in any kind of domestic chores,” the state-run China National Radio (CNR) reported.
In its ruling, the court ordered the husband to pay Wang around $7,700 as “housework compensation,” after splitting their joint property equally. The right to seek housework compensation in divorce proceedings is not a new concept in Chinese law.
In 2001, housework compensation was added to a revision of China’s marriage law with the precondition that it only applied to couples who agreed to separation of property, in which each spouse retains exclusive ownership of property acquired during the marriage.
gistmania.com
