Dictionary

iron rice bowl en · NOUN

Etymology

Calque from Chinese 鐵飯碗／铁饭碗 (tiěfànwǎn), from 鐵／铁 (tiě, “iron”) + 飯碗／饭碗 (fànwǎn, “rice bowl”).

Meanings

1. A guaranteed state job in China that lasts until retirement and pays a pension until death.
   • Large or small, a state enterprise took care of all the needs of its workers and dependents, providing housing, schools, and health facilities at minimal cost - the so-called "iron rice bowl" which the economic mobilizers said now had to be 'smashed'. 2006, John Gittings, “Economics in Command: The modernization of China”, in The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market:

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