1.45m in Beijing's new social class of women

Beijing boasts a population of 1.452 million in a new social class of women, who are well-educated, of high income and satisfied with their jobs, cssn.cn reported.

This new social class of women accounts for 13.7 percent of the capital's total female population, significantly higher than the national average level, according to the annual report on Beijing's social development (2018-2019).

The report was jointly released on Wednesday by Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and Social Science Academic Press.

This new social class emerged in China after reform and opening-up. A regulation on the united front work of the Communist Party of China issued in 2015 defines the new social class as mainly comprising management and technical staff in private enterprises and foreign companies, employees at intermediary agencies and social organizations, freelancers and new media industry workers.

A majority of the new social class of women in Beijing are young and middle-aged, with those aged 31 to 40 accounting for half, the report said.

The average monthly income of new social class of women reaches 17,392 yuan ($2,449), 2.5 times that of an average woman in Beijing. About 80 percent of these women have either a bachelor's degree or higher.

The professional women in Beijing's new social class are generally content with their jobs. Over half of them said that "living close to their workplace" and "high salary" are main factors that affect job satisfaction.

The report said that nearly 90 percent of the new social class of women have a strong sense of self-esteem, confidence, independence and self-reliance, and believe females and males are equally capable. Meanwhile, 70 percent say they struggle to balance career and family in real life.

More than 80 percent agreed that one should pursue a high-quality life and 65 percent said they are willing to fork out for the finer things in life. Nearly 87 percent said they have purchased luxuries. These women are also pragmatic consumers, valuing price–performance ratio (67 percent) and practical applicability (58 percent) more than brand (42 percent) and fashion (36 percent), the report found.