by Vivian Lin & Lan Lianchao Li Meng is a devoted mother trying to support her two-year-old daughter, but in the eyes of Chinese society and the state, she is almost a second-class citizen. Millions of single mothers like her have it rough in a country where out-of-wedlock births are frowned upon, and where only married women can claim maternity benefits. Li, a Shanghai resident, got pregnant with her boyfriend, but he left her to raise the child by herself. Ineligible for maternity leave because she was not married, she had to quit her job in real estate to take care of her baby. “There was a…