China population: province may offer year of maternity leave in bid to reverse dramatic decline in births
- China announced in May that married couples may have up to three children, after data showed a dramatic decline in births in the world’s most populous country
- China’s census showed that the overall population reached 1.412 billion last year, but the number of new births fell for a fourth consecutive year to 12 million
A landlocked province in northwest China, in an effort to encourage couples to have children, is looking to sharply increase the duration of paid maternity leave to nearly one full year, putting it on par with some developed economies in Europe.
Shaanxi is seeking public opinion on allowing an additional half a year of maternity leave on top of the current 168 days.
That would put the province in the same league as European nations like Germany or Norway.
Shaanxi is also considering doubling the length of paternity leave to 30 days for couples looking to have a third child.
The decision to let families have up to three children was initially met with doubts on whether it would make much difference. There were also calls for details on what supportive measures would be included.