Can extending maternity leave and adding parental leave alleviate childbirth anxiety
Recently, all parts of the country have successively completed the revision of local population and family planning regulations, and introduced intensive measures to encourage birth.
According to incomplete statistics, up to now, more than 20 provinces across the country have completed or initiated amendments to the law. Among them, extending maternity leave, adding parental leave, and issuing maternity subsidies have attracted much attention.
On November 26, the “Decision of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress on Amending the Regulations on Population and Family Planning in Beijing” was passed, which stipulates that for couples who give birth to children in accordance with the regulations, the woman enjoys extended maternity leave in addition to the state-regulated maternity leave. On the 60th, the man enjoyed paternity leave on the 15th.
The newly revised "Regulations on Population and Family Planning of Zhejiang Province" stipulate that the maternity leave for giving birth to one child is 158 days, and the maternity leave for giving birth to two and third children is 188 days.
The duration of maternity leave for women is calculated on the basis of natural days from the date of childbirth, including national statutory holidays, rest days and professional leave.
Does not affect promotion, salary adjustment, and calculation of length of service.
The revised population and family planning regulations of Zhejiang Province and Guangdong Province have stipulated that the number of children born to remarried couples shall be calculated based on the number of children born to the remarried couple. The number of children born to remarried couples before remarriage shall not be combined. , That is, remarried couples can have 3 children after remarrying.
The Department of Justice of Shaanxi Province recently solicited opinions on the "Regulations of Shaanxi Province on Population and Family Planning (Revised Draft for Solicitation of Comments)". The draft stipulates that legally giving birth to parents during their children's 1 to 3 years of age will be given to both parents every year. In 30 days of parental leave.
The reporter noticed that most of the local family planning policy adjustments provide for extended maternity leave, maternity leave, and parental leave for both spouses; payment of maternity allowances or subsidies; the cost of having three children for insured female employees is included in the payment scope of maternity insurance benefits.
It is stipulated that remarried couples can also have 3 children.
A survey of 7642 people in 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) released by the School of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology recently revealed that having one child reduces the chance of a wife’s employment by about 6.6% compared with before giving birth; continuing to give birth to the second place For wives of two children, their chances of getting a job dropped again by 9.3%.
Zhu Fei, a professor in the Department of Organization and Human Resources Management of the Business School of Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that the benefits of extending maternity leave to women are obvious. Potential problems coming.
For example, some local policies clearly stipulate that taking maternity leave does not affect promotion, wage adjustments, and calculation of length of service.
However, in actual practice, the greatly extended vacation and possible second and third child situations pose considerable potential challenges to employers. During the implementation process, after women have taken maternity leave, the job is still absent, promotion and salary Whether the adjustment can pass the corresponding assessment, etc., these issues need to be considered.
It is worth noting that in the "Hunan Province Population and Family Planning Regulations (Draft Amendment)" recently publicly solicited opinions, the column of "Revision Basis and Reasons" mentioned that too long holidays may affect female employment, and in the long run Look, it is not conducive to the maintenance and development of women's rights.
Zhu Fei believes that this passage is quite pertinent and an objective and rational approach to fertility.
It should be admitted that the pace of life and work in modern society is getting faster and faster. A woman of childbearing age who leaves the workplace for a long time and then returns to the workplace will face considerable difficulties, which may bring about her career development and the continuity of her career. Great impact.
The Huazhong University of Science and Technology's survey results also show that having one child will reduce the total income of the family labor market by about 5.6%; the total labor market income of the family that continues to have a second child will drop by about 7.1% again.
"At work, because having two children and three children will have a potential impact on the development of employers and per capita performance, measures such as extending maternity leave and increasing parental leave may make it more difficult for women to find employment, which in turn will cause young people to become more anxious about fertility issues." Zhu Fei said that it is obviously unrealistic for these costs to be borne entirely by employers. It is necessary to prevent the government from releasing reproductive dividends and “paying the bill” entirely by employers.
"Government departments should introduce policies to compensate employers' costs through financial subsidies, tax reductions and exemptions, and share the cost of childbirth, so that employers can more actively cooperate with the implementation of these policies." Zhu Fei said.
Ye Mingxin, a lawyer from Beijing Yixian Law Firm, told reporters that in order to cope with the implementation of the three-child policy, all regions are adjusting family planning policies. This legislative process still needs to fully absorb public opinion and listen to the voices of all parties, especially employers and female employees. , On this basis, scientifically demonstrate and formulate new rules in line with local actual conditions.
Zhu Fei believes that increasing the fertility rate is a systematic project. It is not just extending maternity leave and increasing parental leave. The government has invested corresponding funds to increase the quantity and quality of the supply of social service facilities for infant care and childcare, and increase investment in the training of relevant social service professionals. It is even more important to effectively solve the problem that young people dare not have.
Ye Mingxin said that the current extended maternity leave has maternity insurance to protect women’s salary during the leave, but how to share the economic costs of the newly added parental leave needs to be further clarified.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Li Guijie Source: China Youth Daily
Edition 03 on December 07, 2021