East China’s Jiangsu Province recently issued the "Implementation Plan on Optimizing Birth Policy to Promote Long-term Balanced Population Development" with a view to carrying out 26 specific policies and measures from six aspects to promote the province's realization of a moderate fertility level, optimize population structure, and promote long-term balanced population development.
According to the "Plan", Jiangsu will strictly implement the maternity leave, nursing leave, and breastfeeding leave to protect the legitimate rights and interests of childbearing women.
For couples who give birth in accordance with the policy, the woman can extend the maternity leave by 60 days to 158 days on the basis of enjoying the maternity leave stipulated by the central government, and the man can enjoy 15 days of nursing leave.
Before the child turns 3 years old, both spouses enjoy 10 days of parental leave each year.
For the social insurance expenses paid by the enterprise during the maternity leave of female employees, a subsidy of 50% is given to those who have a second child, and a subsidy of 80% to those who have a third child.
In order to further reduce the cost of parenting and education, Jiangsu will strengthen fiscal, taxation and housing support policies to reduce or exempt families with financial difficulties for admission to kindergarten, and school under the preferential policies.
All localities should improve the level of universal and inclusive pre-school education by building, renovating and expanding a number of public kindergartens every year, and maintaining the coverage rate of inclusive kindergartens at no less than 85%.
Jiangsu will also promote the high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education and the integration of urban and rural areas, significantly increase the enrollment quota of public schools, implement simultaneous enrollment in public and private schools, implement the exchange and rotation system for principals and teachers, and continue to promote group-based school running and standardization.
In the meantime, Jiangsu will continue to implement the current reward and support systems and preferential policies for the one-child families before the adjustment of the comprehensive two-child policy.
The only child enjoys 5 days of paid nursing leave every year when their parents in their 60s are hospitalized.
Jiangsu will take elderly parents who have lost their only child as a key group and give priority to living in public elderly care institutions and provide free or low-cost care services. For only-child parents with housing difficulties, priority will be given to housing security.
