China gives paid ‘marriage leave’ to boost birth rate
HONG KONG: According to the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily Health, several Chinese provinces are providing young newlyweds with 30 days of paid leave in an effort to promote marriage and increase a declining birth rate.
Since February, the Chinese government has allowed provinces to set their own more generous allowances for paid marital vacation periods, even though the minimum requirement still remains three days.
According to the People’s Daily Health, Sichuan still only offers three days, whereas Shanghai offers 10, and the coal-producing provinces of Gansu and Shanxi now offer 30.
According to dean Yang Haiyang of the Social Development Research Institute at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, “extending marriage leave is one of the effective means of improving the fertility rate.”
He further stated, “the extension of marriage leave is mainly in some regions and cities with relatively poor economic development.” He also stressed the urgent need to boost consumption and increase the labour force.
Mr. Yang claimed that numerous further supportive measures, including as housing subsidies and paid paternity leave for males, were still required.
According to official figures, China’s population decreased last year for the first time in 60 years.Anticipated to signal the beginning of a protracted era of decline, last year saw the lowest birth rate ever recorded in China with 6.77 births for every 1,000 people.
The “one child” policy, which was in place between 1980 and 2015, and rising education costs, which have discouraged many Chinese from having more than one child or any at all, are two factors that contributed significantly to the decline. Therefore, China gives paid ‘marriage leave’ to boost birth rate.
