Childcare Leave in China (Last Updated on March 24, 2023)

Posted by Written by Qian Zhou Reading Time: 6 minutes

Childcare leave (or parental leave) refers to a period of paid or unpaid leave granted to employees for the care and/or support of their children under a certain age.

Although this welfare policy has existed in many other countries for years, childcare leave is very new in China and was only introduced recently as part of an effort to address the growing demographic imbalance and boost childbirth. In this article, we offer an overview of the establishment of the childcare leave policy in China, summarize its recent developments in China’s different regions, and explain how childcare leave will be implemented in practice.

The establishment of childcare leave in China

On May 9, 2019, the State Council issued the Guidelines on Improving Care Services for Infants and Children Under Three Years Old, encouraging local governments to pilot childcare leave within their jurisdictions. This is designed to provide more support to home-based childcare services.

In the period following, multiple regions began exploring the implementation of childcare leave, including Xianing City in Hubei Province, Dalian City in Liaoning Province, and the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Ningxia. At that time, however, employers were only encouraged to grant employees childcare leave until the child reached a certain age, and were not obliged to do so.

Then China announced the three-child policy in May 2021 and updated its Population and Family Planning Law in August 2021. The latter stipulates that the state supports the establishment of childcare leave where conditions permit. This is understood as a stronger and higher-level indicator of China’s determination to improve its childcare system and implement a childcare leave policy.

In the following months, this suggestion was translated into concrete local policies, as more and more provinces amended their population and family planning regulations and stipulated that both parents who lawfully have a child are entitled to a certain amount of paid childcare leave per year until their child reaches a certain age. That is to say, in these regions, paid childcare leave has become a lawful right of employees, which must be granted if certain criteria are met.

It is important to note, however, not all provinces have made childcare leave a mandatory policy. For example, Jilin’s regulation only has an ’encouragement clause’: it supports the establishment of childcare leave in regions where conditions allow. Tibet has yet to release its policy regarding childcare leave.

How long is childcare leave in China?

Similar to many other child-related leaves, childcare leave is managed by local governments.

To know the length of childcare leave in China, we must closely examine the corresponding regulations in each province.

As of March 24, 2023, 29 provinces have clarified the length of childcare leave. Beijing and Shanghai both stipulate that each couple can enjoy five days’ childcare leave each year until their child reaches three years. Beijing further stated that the total amount of childcare leaves a couple can take each year is no more than 10 working days.

Some provinces offer longer childcare leave. Fujian, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Hebei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Ningxia, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Hainan, Xinjiang, Shandong, and Guangdong provide 10 days of childcare leave each year for couples with children under the age of three. Shanxi, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces give 15 days of childcare leave each year to couples with children under the age of three. Anhui and Chongqing raised the maximum age limit of children for childcare leave to six.  According to Anhui’s population and family planning regulation, each parent will be given 10 days of childcare leave each year until their child is six years old. Chongqing’s arrangement is more flexible, allowing one of two options:

  • After the maternity leave or paternity leave expires, subject to the approval of the employer, either parent can take childcare leave until the child reaches one year; or
  • Both parents can take five to 10 days of childcare leave each year until the child reaches six years.

In Yunnan, either parent who has children under the age of three years old shall be granted 10 days’ childcare leave each year. For those who have more than two children under the age of three years old, an additional five days of childcare leave will be added to either parent each year.

Below we have summarized the various childcare leave policies in China.

Childcare Leave in China
Province Childcare leave Effective date
Anhui 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 6 years old January 1, 2022
Beijing 5 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 26, 2021
Chongqing 5-10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 6 years old or one parent takes childcare leave until the child reaches 1 year old after the maternity leave or paternity leave expires (subject to the approval of the employer) November 25, 2021
Fujian 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old March 30, 2022
Gansu 15 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 26, 2021
Guangdong 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old December 1, 2021
Guangxi  10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old March 24, 2022
Guizhou 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old October 1, 2021
Hainan 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old December 30, 2021
Hebei 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 23, 2021
Heilongjiang 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 1, 2021
Henan 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 27, 2021
Hubei 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 26, 2021
Hunan 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old December 3, 2021
Inner Mongolia 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old January 10, 2022
Jiangxi 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old September 29, 2021
Jiangsu 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old February 10, 2022
Jilin Areas, enterprises, and institutions where conditions permit are encouraged to set up parental leave September 28, 2021
Liaoning 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 26, 2021
Ningxia 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 30, 2021
Qinghai 15 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 26, 2021
Shaanxi 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old May 25, 2022
Shandong 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 1, 2022
Shanghai 5 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 25, 2021
Shanxi 15 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old September 29, 2021
Sichuan 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old September 29, 2021
Tianjin 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 29, 2021
Tibet To be developed To be developed
Xinjiang 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old June 4, 2022
Yunnan 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old, and an additional 5 days/year for each parent if they have 2 or more children under the age of 3 January 17, 2022
Zhejiang 10 days/year for each parent until the child reaches 3 years old November 25, 2021

How will childcare leave be implemented in practice?

Childcare leave has been established, but details on how it will be implemented are yet to be clarified in most provinces.

Beijing and Shanghai have made it clear that annual childcare leave is not calculated in calendar years, but in “anniversaries”. For example, if the child was born on December 19, 2021, December 18, 2022 will be the ‘anniversary’ marking the end of the year in which each parent is entitled to five days of childcare leave.

Shanghai further clarified that childcare leave days are calculated according to the number of children the employee has. If the employee has two children who are both under three years, then they will be entitled to 10 days of childcare leave for the year. Moreover, Shanghai makes it clear that the childcare leave should be used in the current year, and can be taken over consecutively or on separate days and also stipulates that wages during childcare leave shall be paid in accordance with the normal attendance wages.

As of March 2023, provinces such as Tianjin, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Guangdong have also released certain kinds of guidelines regarding childcare leave management.

If companies operate in provinces where childcare leave has been established, they are advised to keep a close eye on further policy developments and to start considering amendments to their employee handbook to adapt to this new statutory leave.

This article was first published on December 3, 2021, and was last updated on March 24, 2023.

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