(Observation of the two sessions) Extending parental or paternity leave for men, how far is it from suggestion to reality?

  China News Service, Beijing, March 6 (Reporter Li Jinlei) It is recommended to appropriately extend male parental leave, to force men to accompany women to take maternity leave for one month, and to increase the paid paternity leave for men to 30 to 42 days... 2022 During the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress, many representatives and committee members proposed increasing holidays for Chinese men, which aroused concern.

  In the context of China's encouragement to have three children and the increase of women's maternity leave in various places, the above-mentioned recommendations have two main purposes. One is to encourage men to take on more childcare responsibilities, and the other is to reduce the employment discrimination of women caused by childbirth.

  At present, there is a big difference in the number of days of maternity leave for women and paternity leave for men in China.

Maternity leave ranges from 128 to 190 days across the country, while paternity leave for men ranges from 7 to 30 days.

  Jiang Shengnan, a representative of the National People's Congress and a researcher at Wenzhou University, believes that the further increase in the difference in the number of days between women's maternity leave and men's paternity leave may aggravate the employment discrimination faced by women due to childbirth. Women's fertility wishes.

To give men more time to care for mothers and newborns, it is recommended to increase the paid paternity leave for men to 30 to 42 days.

  Xie Wenmin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of Hubei Shouyi Law Firm, suggested that localities should be encouraged to add incentive maternity leave for having a second child based on actual conditions.

Men should also take maternity leave for one month to accompany women who give birth, and this month should also be enforced, so that male compatriots share the responsibility of raising children.

  As these suggestions rushed to the hot search, they also sparked heated discussions among Chinese netizens.

Proponents argue that this will help reshape the division of parenting responsibilities within the family, avoid "widowed parenting" and reduce discrimination against women in the workplace.

Opponents say that the effect may not be ideal. How many men will actually take care of their children at home instead of doing other things has no direct connection to alleviating female employment discrimination, and may reduce family income.

  Currently, Chinese women invest more time in family and childcare.

According to the 2018 National Time Utilization Survey Bulletin, the average daily household chores time is 45 minutes for men and 2 hours and 6 minutes for women.

Residents spend an average of 17 minutes with their children and 53 minutes for women.

  Feng Wenmeng, researcher and director of the Research Office of the Social Development Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, told a reporter from China News Agency that due to the traditional thinking on the division of labor in the family and the actual gender differences in the social division of labor, the current situation of Chinese men's participation in family parenting is generally There is indeed an urgent need for improvement. It is necessary to further increase the enthusiasm of men to participate in childcare, so that more people realize that childcare is not only the responsibility of women, and at the same time promote the improvement of relevant systems, so as to form a better family childcare environment and improve the quality of childcare.

  Feng Wenmeng pointed out that promoting the increase of male parenting or paternity leave can increase male parenting participation to a certain extent, but from the existing practice at home and abroad, only set the number of days in terms of quantity, in male-related skills training and labor, salary and social Under the circumstance that the guarantee system still needs to be perfected, the implementation will face many challenges.

  The first is to look at the differences in the division of labor between men and women in parenting.

The timing of male parenting or paternity leave needs to be determined according to the actual role that males can play.

If men's leave is just to stay at home, it cannot replace or supplement women's childcare. Instead, it is a waste of human capital, and it will also increase the cost to the family and society.

  Second, increasing male parenting leave and reducing female employment discrimination cannot simply be equated.

There are many factors that affect women's employment. In reality, even among women who do not need childcare or who have completed childcare, there are still different employment conditions.

Adopting the "I can't come, you can't come" approach is not conducive to solving the problem of gender-based employment discrimination.

  The third is the need for supporting relevant systems.

Judging from the existing local practice of implementing male parenting leave, due to the lack of operational institutional arrangements and a reasonable cost-sharing mechanism, the cost of male leave is often borne by the unit itself, so it is difficult to implement the problem, and the holiday has become a "paper benefit" ".

  Feng Wenmeng believes that to build a fertility-friendly society and completely eliminate discrimination against women in employment, it is necessary to persist in and comprehensively promote the reform and improvement of relevant systems for a long time.

On the premise of respecting natural differences and improving the efficiency of human resource utilization in the society as a whole, change the absence of men in childcare and achieve gender equality in childcare.

(over)