Weighing the cost of having a pregnant pause

A proposal to extend China's maternity leave to three years may be well-intentioned, but has negative repercussions for career women, writes Raymond Zhou.

Wang Youjun, a people's representative of Beijing, the equivalent of an MP, recently controversially proposed extending maternity leave to three years. Chinese law stipulates that every woman is entitled to a minimum of 98 days of paid leave, and that includes those who violated the family planning policy. On top of the 98 days, new mothers get additional days off on the condition they meet certain requirements, e.g. 30 more days for late-age delivery, 15 for a difficult delivery, 15 for twins, etc. Of all the days, 15 can be taken before the planned delivery date.

Unlike the debate about the number of legal holidays, Wang's proposal for more days off has not been widely embraced by the public, judging from online feedback. While everyone agrees that the first three years of a child is very important, the public seems to be acutely aware of the cost that longer, legally binding maternity leave would impose on both the state and the employers.