Shanghai to Study Extending Parental Leave

Shanghai’s municipal health authority has signaled it will examine whether to lengthen the city’s parental leave, responding to a legislative proposal in a move that underscores growing official attention to family-support policy amid China’s demographic pressures.

The Shanghai Municipal Health Commission said it would join with human resources and finance departments to further conduct policy feasibility research, and propose legislative amendment suggestions to the legislature at an appropriate time, according to The Paper, the Shanghai-based news outlet that reported the response on September 20. The reply followed a proposal submitted by a Shanghai People’s Congress representative at the 16th Municipal People’s Congress, 4th session.

The Current Rules

Under the Shanghai Regulations on Population and Family Planning, which took effect in 2021, couples who have a child in compliance with regulations each receive five days of parental leave per year until the child turns three. Wages are paid in full during the leave, and employers are encouraged to adopt flexible leave and working arrangements.

The Commission described the current system positively, saying that overall, since the implementation of the three-child policy, the parental leave system has been implemented well. But it acknowledged that the representative’s suggestions — including extending parental leave and optimizing how its costs are shared — reflect the real needs of child-raising families today.

Shanghai’s five days of parental leave sit at the shorter end of the national spectrum. Most Chinese provinces provide around 10 days per parent per year, and some, such as Qinghai, offer 15, according to a legal analysis by Li Xixia, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of International Law, published in the Journal of Human Rights Studies.

Menstrual Leave Also in Focus

The representative’s proposal also called for strengthening the implementation of menstrual leave and simplifying the application process. The Commission pointed to the 1990 Shanghai Measures for Labor Protection of Female Employees, which requires that women engaged in high-altitude, low-temperature, cold-water, field or mobile work, or in nationally designated third-grade physical labor, be temporarily reassigned or granted one day of public leave during menstruation. The measure has been used to this day, providing institutional protection for the rights of female employees during menstruation and other special periods, the Commission said.

On the request to simplify applications, the Commission said it would actively cooperate with the municipal human resources department to conduct investigation and research to improve policy implementation.

Enforcement and Protection

The response also outlined the support machinery already in place. The Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions relies on 354 employee legal aid service stations citywide and the 12351 employee rights protection hotline to provide legal aid to female employees, and it promotes model special collective contracts for protecting women’s rights. Human resources enforcement departments accept reports around the clock through platforms including 12333 and 12345 and handle violations found in inspections, while the city regularly conducts special inspections of female employees’ labor rights.

Why It Matters

The study commitment reflects a broader national policy debate over how to support families as China confronts a shrinking working-age population and an aging society. Since 2021, when Beijing launched its three-child policy and supporting measures, provinces have developed parental leave systems alongside extended childbirth leave and paternity leave. As of the end of 2023, all 31 provincial-level regions had established parental leave, though levels of protection vary widely, the CASS analysis noted.

A central question in that debate is who shoulders the cost. In most provinces, parental and extended childbirth leave benefits are effectively borne entirely by employers, a structure that critics say can incentivize discrimination against women of childbearing age. The CASS analysis argued that China’s funding mechanism shows a gap in the government’s fiscal support and diverges from the International Labour Organization’s principle of collective responsibility, under which maternity benefits are typically financed through compulsory social insurance or public funds. It proposed that the central government return 50 percent of employer costs as a subsidy.

Shanghai’s parental leave and its 10 days of paternity leave are both on the shorter side nationally, which helps explain why the extension question has surfaced in the city. The Commission’s phrasing stopped well short of a commitment, describing future study and possible legislative proposals rather than a timeline. Any actual change would require amendments to local regulations.

What to Watch

The immediate next step is whether the Commission’s feasibility research produces concrete legislative proposals, and whether other provinces move in the same direction. For families in Shanghai, the near-term practical effect is limited: the five-day annual entitlement remains in force.