Couples are being offered financial benefits to have a second child

A number of regions across China have granted extended benefits to local couples as part of efforts to promote families to have a second child, reports thepaper.cn.

A newborn infant. [File Photo: IC]

In addition to the 98 days of nationally-mandated maternity leave, 31 provinces, regions, and municipalities have reportedly given extended leave to mothers ranging from 138 to 158 days. New mothers will also be paid during their maternity leave. And fathers have also been granted entitlements to paternity leave ranging from 15 to 30 days on average.

As well as longer maternity leave, additional benefits extended to families that have a second child include financial allowances and medical services.

In Shihezi, a city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, mothers who have a second child will be offered subsidies worth up to 1,000 yuan. The city will also provide second-child families with subsidies for baby milk formula for up to three years. Xiantao in central China's Hubei Province is providing subsidized reproductive medical services to mothers who have a second child. And Liaoning Province in the country's northeast is considering introducing policies that reward families who choose to have a second child, according to a guideline released by the provincial government last month.

China's central government changed its long-standing one-child policy in 2016 when it gave all married couples the right to have two children.