Paid leave for only child a welcome step

Eight provinces, including Heilongjiang and Hubei, have passed local legislation granting paid leave to an only child to allow such children to take care of their sick parents. In force for two years, the measure has been welcomed by many people, especially the large number of single offspring and their parents. Now, some National People’s Congress deputies are trying to get a national regulation passed on the subject. Three experts share their views on the issue with China Daily’s Liu Jianna.

Qu Xiaobo, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Embodying the idea of “putting people first”, the paid leave program introduced by the eight provinces is a well-intentioned and significant move. China faces an aging population, with people aged 60 or above accounting for 15 percent of the total population by the end of 2015. To meet the challenges of the aging population, authorities have to take multiple measures, among which the paid leave program is a timely one.

At the family level, the special leave of absence not only makes the parents and their only child happy but also promotes social harmony, which in turn will reduce the principal social contradiction — between “unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life” — in the new era.

However, the details of the special leave of absence program should be thoroughly thought through before introducing it nationwide. The program should be well designed and properly implemented to prevent new problems from arising.

And it would be better if the government could encourage employers to introduce the special leave program by giving them tax deductions and incentives, rather than by taking impulsive measures.

Speaking of protecting workers’ rights, there are two trains of thought. The first is to treat labor relations as market relations, and let the employers and employees negotiate settlement. The second is to establish a trilateral relationship among employers, employees and the government, and accordingly fix the problems that arise through law enforcement.

Through strengthened supervision of labor relations, the Chinese government has indicated that employers have the obligation to protect workers’ legitimate interests. Yet the costs incurred by the employers for doing so are often overlooked. As such, the special leave program introduced in the eight provinces could make the enterprises there reluctant to recruit an only child so as to avoid shouldering this extra yet important responsibility for the workers. The key to resolving this issue is to strike a delicate balance among employers, employees and lawmakers in terms of benefits.

First, the employers’ social security burden needs to be reduced by revising the existing laws, including the one on social insurance. The current pension and insurance programs stipulate that employers and employees should share the cost, putting huge pressure on the former, which may lead to evasion of law. So, before passing legislation, the lawmakers should take into full consideration the rights and obligations of both employers and employees.

Second, employees should recognize that disputes might arise if they only focus on their own rights and ignore the employers’ operating costs.

And third, a scientific vacation and leave system should be established to ensure employees can exercise their rights without problems.

The special leave program is a welcome move. But policies on elderly care should bring benefits to all senior citizens irrespective of how many offspring they have, as even senior citizens with two children can need urgent medical care.

Given the severe challenge of elderly care, China would do good to work out a scientific and unified master plan. For example, some private enterprises’ unwillingness or inability to covshould er the cost of granting employees the special leave of absence could render the good-intentioned policy ineffective. These potential problems and the ways to solve, if not prevent, them should be taken into account when devising the national pension system master plan.

The following areas, too, deserve particular attention during the policymaking process. First, relevant policies should be beneficial to all; they

Qiao Xinsheng, a professor of law at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law Li Jianmin, a professor at and director of the Institute of Population and Development at Nankai University in Tianjin

not be selectively applied to certain groups of people based on, for example, the number of offspring they have and/or household registration. Second, the pension payment standard across the country should be equal based on the principle of benefiting all. And since the central government has more than enough financial resources, it is feasible to establish such a national pension system.

Once such a system is introduced nationwide, at least the basic requirements of senior citizens can be met and the burden on their offspring eased. Therefore, from now on elderly care should focus on the welfare of all senior citizens, not just certain groups.

SHI YU / CHINA DAILY