Wife Sues Divorce, Court Decides Husband Must Pay Domestic Work Money

JAKARTA - A husband who sued for his wife's divorce was convicted of having to pay a month's allowance and compensation for household chores carried out by the wife.

This case took place at the Fangshan District Divorce Court, Beijing, China, along with the imposition of a new civil code in the Land of the Bamboo Curtain.

This stems from court records, when the man identified by the last name Chen filed for divorce last year against his wife, whose last name was Wang, after getting married in 2015.

At first, the wife was reluctant to divorce. However, he later asked for financial compensation, arguing that Chen did not assume responsibility for housework, or childcare for their son.

The court also won. Despite the divorce verdict, the court ordered the husband to pay a monthly allowance of 2,000 yuan. Also, a one-time payment of 50,000 yuan or about 108,121,860 rupiahs for the work the wife has done.

"Sharing property with a spouse after marriage usually requires the separation of tangible property. But homework is the value of intangible property," the judge told the BBC.

The decision was made in accordance with the country's new civil code, which took effect this year. Under the new law, spouses are entitled to seek compensation in divorce if they are more responsible for raising children, caring for elderly relatives, and helping spouses in their work.

The case has sparked a huge debate in cyberspace over the value of domestic work, with some saying the amount of compensation was too small. Previously, divorced couples could only seek such compensation if a prenuptial agreement had been signed - a practice that is not common in China.

On Chinese social media Weibo, the case sparked heated debate, with the related hashtag having been viewed more than 570 million times.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Chinese women spend nearly four hours a day on unpaid work, roughly 2.5 times that of men. This is higher than the average in OECD countries, where women spend twice as much time as men on unpaid work.