Chinese Government provides 30 days of paid leave to newlyweds to boost birth rate

The Government of China is providing young newlyweds with 30 days of paid leave in an effort to promote marriage and increase a sinking birth rate.

The minimum paid marital vacation period in China is three days, but since February, provinces have been permitted to set their own, more generous allowances.

“Extending marriage leave is one of the effective ways of increasing the fertility rate”, Yang Haiyang, dean of the Social Development Research Institute of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, was quoted while talking to the reporters on February 22.

“The extension of marriage leave is mainly in some provinces and cities with relatively slow economic development”, he said, adding that there was an urgent need to both expand the labour force and stimulate consumption.

Yang said a host of other supporting policies were still needed, including housing subsidies and paid paternity leave for men.

According to official data, China's population decreased last year for the first time in 60 years and this is a turning point that is anticipated to signal the beginning of a protracted era of decline.

It is worth mentioning that 6.77 births for every 1,000 people were the lowest birth rate ever recorded in China last year.

The "one child" policy, which was in place between 1980 and 2015, and rising education costs, which have discouraged many Chinese from having more than one child or any at all, are two factors that contributed significantly to the decline.