Nursing leave for only child a nationwide necessity

China's population has been rapidly aging, and the parents of the first generation "only child in the family" are getting old. But many an only child is finding it difficult to take care of their parents, especially those who migrate from villages to cities and towns in search of better livelihoods and higher studies.

In 2016, the overall migrant population in China was 245 million, and about 65 percent of the migrants worked and lived or studied in places far away from their hometown. Among the 16-to 59-year-old migrants, those born between 1980 and 1989 increased from close to 50 percent in 2011 to 56.5 percent in 2016. And many of the post-1980 only child generation study, work or live in places far away from their hometown and parents. So when their parents fall sick, they find it difficult to leave their work or studies to rush back home to take care of them.

Some provinces have announced nursing leave for the only child so that they can rush back to their hometown to take care of their parents during medical or other emergencies. In fact, by the end of last year, eight provincial-level regions including Henan, Heilongjiang and Chongqing had granted the only child special leave so they could take care of their parents during emergencies. For instance, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region's regulation, which took effect on Sept 1 last year, stipulates that employers should give their only-child employees up to 15 days of "nursing leave" if either of their parents (aged 60 or above) is hospitalized. Also, the employers have been instructed to not deduct the salaries of the employees who avail of such a leave.