According to a recent report in the Communist Party's official newspaper, People’s Daily Health, some Chinese provinces are offering newlywed couples extended paid leave in an attempt to boost the country's declining birth rate.
While China's minimum paid marriage leave is three days, some provinces have been granted permission to set their own more generous allowances since February.
Currently, the north-western province of Gansu and the coal-producing province of Shanxi offer newlyweds 30 days of paid leave, whereas Shanghai offers 10 days and Sichuan still only offers a minimum of three.
Dean Yang Haiyang of the Social Development Research Institute at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics has suggested that extending marriage leave is an effective way of increasing the fertility rate.
Mr. Yang explained that the extension of marriage leave is mainly available in provinces and cities with relatively slow economic development, and emphasized that there is an urgent need to expand the labor force and stimulate consumption.
He also suggested that other supporting policies, such as housing subsidies and paid paternity leave for men, are needed to encourage childbirth.
The report notes that China's population fell for the first time in six decades last year, marking the beginning of a long period of decline.
This decline is largely attributed to the "one child" policy that was imposed between 1980 and 2015, along with a surge in education costs that has made it difficult for many Chinese citizens to afford to have more than one child or even have children at all.
In 2020, China recorded its lowest-ever birth rate, with only 6.77 births per 1,000 people.
The one-child policy, which was in place in China for 35 years, had a significant impact on the country's demographic outlook.
While it was designed to control population growth, it also led to a dramatic decline in the country's birth rate, which has had long-term consequences for China's economy and society.
The policy has been blamed for a range of social problems, including a gender imbalance, with families preferring to have male children, and a rapidly aging population, with fewer young people to support a growing number of elderly citizens.
It has also been suggested that the policy, along with high education costs, has contributed to a growing reluctance among Chinese couples to have more than one child, or even to have any children at all.
The Chinese government has attempted to address these issues with a range of measures to encourage people to have more babies, including tax deductions, longer maternity leave, and housing subsidies. However, these measures have so far had limited success in reversing the long-term trend.
In contrast, India has seen a recent increase in searches for baby-related products, suggesting a growing interest in having children. However, India also faces its own set of demographic challenges, including a high population growth rate and a lack of adequate infrastructure to support a growing population
