Generous paid paternity leave is set to roll out across a number of provinces in China. Last month the Guangdong government announced it was set to introduce paid paternity leave for up to 15 days. This announcement means that 29 of 32 Chinese provinces now offer paternity leave for new fathers.
Provinces see paternity leave as a way of increasing the birth rate by encouraging couples to have a second child following the relaxation of the one child policy rule, which was intact for 30 years.
The former policy led to a shrinking labor pool due to an aging population and problems with male to female demographics, with the number of men outranking the number of women.
Lucky fathers in Yunnan, Gansu and Henan get the most paternity leave in China with 30 days, while Shandong offers the fewest number of days with just seven. Even so, fathers will be no doubt be very happy with the recent changes.
Most provinces offer more days that many western nations. For example the UK and Australia offer two weeks, while the US has no federally mandated paid paternity leave.
[Image via PRI.org]
