To raise China’s birth rate, have shared parental leave and make dads take a third of it, lobby group says
- The Shanghai Women’s Federation says its proposal aims to force dads to be more involved in childcare, encouraging women to have children
- The country’s birth rate has continued to fall in recent years, despite the government ending its one-child policy in 2015
As China grapples with a decline in its birth rate, the Shanghai Women’s Federation (SWF) believes it has the solution.
The organisation has called on the city’s legislative body to make it mandatory for new fathers to take parental leave.
In addition to the existing 128 days of maternity leave and 10 days of paternity leave permitted, the SWF wants to add shared parental leave and require fathers to use at least a third of it, it said on social media platform WeChat recently.
SWF deputy chairwoman Weng Wenlei said its proposal aimed to boost gender equality and encourage women to have children, as it would force men to be more involved in childcare.
“We hope that families would be encouraged by the public policies [to have children], without adding burdens to employers or worsening childbirth-related discrimination faced by women,” she told the Xinhua news agency.
Emily Xie, a Shanghai-based white-collar worker and mother of a three-year-old boy, said she would support legislation to force fathers to take leave, although she doubted how many of them would truly spend the time on childcare.