The city of Shanghai is working to address the need to extend both maternal and paternal leave to give couples more time to care for their children.

Under the new law, the city is giving new fathers an extended 10 day leave compared with the previous three days, according to the amendment submitted by the local legislative body with regard to population and family planning policy on Tuesday.

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The regulation also extends maternity leave too. All mothers, young or old, who gave birth to their first or second child, will be equally granted a 128-day leave. The previous policy stipulated that only first-time mothers more than 23 years old are entitled to an additional 30-day leave - a reward for giving birth later - while young mothers are only allocated 98 days.

The latest changes are meant to pave a way to implement the new universal two-child policy of China and to encourage women to give birth or become second-time moms, the legal office director of Shanghai Municipal People's Government Liu Ping said.

The initiative is also in preparation for the anticipated 20,000 - 30,000 babies that will be born every year by Shanghai's permanent residents over the next three to five years, the deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning Wu Qiangyu said.  

A survey conducted last year by by China Youth Daily and involving nearly 3,000 respondents revealed that nearly 89 percent of respondents believe that maternity leave should be extended. Of the number, about 41 percent said it should be prolonged to six months, 26 percent opted for a year, and nearly 7 percent said three years.

Tagsmaternal leave, paternal leave, china, Shanghai