Local governments are encouraging couples to have a second child. (Photo : Reuters)
The local governments of Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong Province are set to increase the maternity leave of their residents to encourage couples to have a second child, China Daily reported.
The additional number of days mothers can have off their work range from 30 to 60.
The report noted that the provincial-level governments are still soliciting opinions from the public. The new regulations are set to be implemented this year.
The first to overhaul maternity leave is Guangdong Province, which added 30 more days effective on Jan. 1. Meanwhile, the husbands can take five more days off their work from the original 10 to take care of their wives and children.
On Friday, Beijing's Legal Affairs Office issued a draft amendment of its local population and family planning regulation to gather public opinion. The draft covers the cancellation of the seven-day marriage holiday, and the expansion of the maternity leave from 98 to 128 days for the mother, and an additional 15 days for the father.
On the other hand, Shandong eyes to increase the maternity leave by 60 days for the mothers and by seven days for the fathers. This is according to a draft released by its Legal Affairs Office.
Meanwhile, the People's Congress of Shanghai remarked that the mothers in the city will have an additional 30 days off to its current 98. The fathers will have three days off.
For Zhai Zhenwu, sociology and population studies professor at the Renmin University of China in the Chinese capital, "there should be clear regulations on maternity leave, including details on how many days mothers can take. Otherwise, mothers will face possible discrimination in employment."
Newly married couples across the country cannot get additional marriage holidays anymore starting Jan. 1 this year. All have been deprived of privileges linked with late marriage policies that give extra days off for couple where the wife is at least 23 years old and the husband is at least 25 years old.
