Currently, maternity leave in various provinces (regions, cities) is generally extended to 158 days or more, but the implementation is still not satisfactory. Experts suggest that the main reason for this is the imperfect mechanism for sharing holiday costs. It is suggested to establish a reasonable cost sharing mechanism and expand the coverage of maternity insurance. In mid to late January, the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were held intensively, and "marriage and child support" appeared in the work reports of many local governments. Further optimizing the maternity leave system has become a hot topic of discussion. In early January, the government work report in Yichang, Hubei Province mentioned encouraging and supporting urban employers to extend maternity leave for women who give birth in Yichang to one year, which has aroused people's attention and discussion on extending maternity leave. In recent years, China's fertility policy has been continuously adjusted and improved. According to statistics from the National Health Commission, maternity leave in various provinces (regions, cities) is generally extended to 158 days or more, and more than half of the provinces have a maternity allowance payment period of no less than 158 days. In addition, around 15 days of spousal paternity leave and 5-20 days of parental leave are established in various regions. Several experts told the Worker's Daily reporter that the vacation system, as a time support, is an important part of the fertility support policy system. However, the implementation situation is not satisfactory, mainly due to the imperfect mechanism for sharing holiday costs, which requires top-level institutional design and coordinated social security. Maternity leave should not only be enjoyed by female employees. In early 2024, Ms. Liu, who worked in a private enterprise in Beijing, returned to work after taking 158 days of maternity leave. "The company is about to undergo internal restructuring, and in order to maintain her original position, I gave up the extra 15 days of maternity leave after a cesarean section." Therefore, Ms. Liu, who is 35 years old, still faces "job being taken over by other colleagues, no business, and no performance. After two months, she chose to switch positions. Seemingly taking the initiative to change positions, it is actually a helpless act. Even if you have worked in this company for more than 5 years, it is not easy to keep your job Ms. Liu was deeply touched. According to Article 7 of the "Special Regulations on Labor Protection for Female Employees" implemented in 2012, female employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, including 15 days before childbirth; For difficult childbirth, an additional 15 days of maternity leave will be granted; For those who give birth to multiple children, an additional 15 days of maternity leave will be granted for each additional baby. Professor Yang Fan, vice president of the School of Population and Health of Renmin University of China, told the reporter that 98 days of maternity leave is mainly used for women's postpartum rehabilitation. The academic community reached a consensus that the longer the maternity leave is, the better. It is necessary to comprehensively consider the impact of the length of leave on the family, women's career development and other multiple factors, such as possible discrimination in the employment market, and the impact on career promotion, professional title assessment, welfare benefits and other aspects. We have found through research that Ms. Liu's situation objectively exists and is quite common Yang Fan said. Li Mingshun, Vice President of the Marriage and Family Law Research Association of the China Law Society and a professor at China Women's University, also stated that it is appropriate to extend maternity leave appropriately, but a balance should be found between the length of women's leave and their work development. "It is more important to ensure that the leave period can be flexible and freely chosen while ensuring postpartum recovery leave." During the interview process, several experts expressed that childbirth cannot be simply understood as the responsibility of women. I think we should implement a joint vacation system for couples. Both foreign research and domestic exploration advocate for fathers to participate in parenting together. Firstly, this is beneficial for the development of infants and young children; Secondly, both spouses taking parental leave can to some extent reduce employment discrimination against women Yang Fan said. During this year's Hubei Provincial People's Congress and People's Political Consultative Conference, Xing Hui, a representative of Hubei Provincial People's Congress and Secretary of the Party Committee of Xiangyang Central Hospital, suggested giving male employees longer paternity leave, such as 30 days. Yuan Tao, a researcher at the China Population and Development Research Center, believes that the future policy orientation should be to gradually increase the parental leave shared by men and women. In terms of time support, it is recommended to set a mandatory quota for male parental leave to promote the sharing of parenting responsibilities between men and women, and to balance work and family responsibilities together. Who will bear the cost of childbirth after vacation? In October 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Several Measures to Accelerate the Improvement of the Policy System for Supporting Childbirth and Promote the Construction of a Fertility Friendly Society" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which clearly strengthened the support for childbirth services, including improving the maternity leave system and ensuring the implementation of maternity leave, maternity reward leave, paternity leave, parental leave and other maternity leave stipulated by laws and regulations. In the process of implementing maternity leave, an unavoidable question is: who should bear the corresponding costs when employees take maternity related leave? The Trial Measures for Maternity Insurance for Enterprise Employees, implemented in 1995, stipulate that employees who have lawfully paid maternity insurance premiums in their employing units can enjoy maternity insurance benefits in accordance with national regulations, including maternity medical expenses and maternity allowances. The Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect in July 2011, continues this content. Maternity insurance is one of the important mechanisms for sharing the cost of maternity leave. Yang Fan explained that currently, the scope of employees who pay maternity insurance premiums is not wide enough, and many employment groups have not been included. One important reason for the difficulty in implementing the maternity leave system is the incomplete mechanism for sharing the cost of the leave. The cost of maternity leave without maternity allowance is borne by the employer, which can easily lead to the enterprise transferring its cost to the worker or forcing the worker to take less leave, thus making it difficult to implement the maternity leave system Yuan Tao stated. For example, in recent years, many places have been exploring pilot parental leave, but the cost of leave is still borne by enterprises. "If enterprises choose not to implement it, then this leave will be in a 'suspended' state, equivalent to not having this leave." Childbirth is not only an internal family matter, but also a social matter. Yang Fan believes that top-level institutional design should be carried out to establish a reasonable cost sharing mechanism and reduce the burden on enterprises. How to establish a reasonable cost sharing mechanism among the government, enterprises, and families is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. It is suggested to expand the coverage of maternity insurance. The "Measures" provide guidance to places where conditions permit to include flexible employees, migrant workers, and new forms of employment who participate in basic medical insurance for employees in maternity insurance. Li Mingshun is particularly concerned about whether flexible employees, migrant workers, and new forms of employment workers can receive maternity insurance protection when taking maternity leave. Li Mingshun further said that when there are flexible employees and other groups who cannot enjoy maternity insurance, we need to consider the balance from the perspective of the whole society. Li Mingshun told reporters that the maternity leave system faces different families, employment forms, job types, individuals, etc. It should be understood from multiple dimensions such as childbirth, women's physical and mental health and comprehensive development, child rearing, and family harmony. As a mother, I hope that maternity leave can be longer, parental leave can be more, and I also hope to receive relatively fair treatment after taking leave Ms. Liu, who is still breastfeeding, said. (New Society)