Court asks husband to pay wife for household chores following divorce

Beijing: In a landmark judgment by a Chinese court, the court adjudicated that a husband should pay his wife for her household chores in a divorce case. The court directed the husband to pay 50,000 Yuan (5.57 lakh rupees). In their five years of marriage, the wife did most of the household works, and the court accepted the argument that she didn't get paid for that.

Chen, who married Wang in 2015, approached the court for the divorce. Wang refused and only agreed after she was promised compensation. She testified at the court that Chen didn't take responsibilities like looking after the children or household chores.

The Fangshan district court of Beijing gave the judgement in Wang's favour which asked Chen to pay 2000 Yuan per month as alimony besides the 50,000 Yuvan as payment of her household works during the marriage.

The judgement is based on the new civil code implemented in China this year. As per the new law, the partner who takes responsibilities like looking after children, the elderly, doing the household chores etc., have the right to demand compensation for that during a divorce.

In China, a housewife does more than 4 hours of work, two and a half times more than a man does. The judgement flared debates on social media. While a majority noted that 50,000 Yuan is not enough for five years of household work, some suggested that men should also involve in household works.