Pressures could result in problems further down the line. Li Hongyang reports.

In 2016, the government introduced the second-child policy, which allowed every couple to have two children. The move was aimed at reversing the decline in the nation's workforce.

However, as the policy really begins to have an impact, women who want to have a second child are subject to greater pressure from both employers and families, according to experts and employment market reports.

Those pressures may result in fewer women entering the job market, which could prompt an economic slowdown, they said.

Data from the World Bank show that the participation rate of China's female labor force was 73.2 percent in 1990, but fell to 60.9 percent last year－still above the global average.