Maternity leave lasts 98 days; maternity benefits are paid by the maternity insurance fund based on the employer’s average monthly wage from the prior year.
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Original author: eternity4719 · Chinese source: · English adaptation: parveen0029. Translation and grade notes ↗
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Cost and benefit at a glance
- Check the cost Cost ↓
- There is no cost to you. Your employer handles all the paperwork — you don’t need to do anything.
- Then the source benefit Benefit ↓
- The length of maternity leave is set by the State Council: “Female employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, including 15 days before delivery; an extra 15 days are add…
In plain terms
You’re entitled to at least 98 days of maternity leave, including up to 15 days you can take before the birth. If the delivery is difficult, you get an extra 15 days. For each additional child born, you receive another 15 days of leave. The money paid during this time is called maternity benefits and comes from the maternity insurance fund. If your employer hasn’t enrolled in this insurance, they must pay the benefits themselves.
This guide's cartoon · show illustration
Enlarge illustrationOriginal illustration with Chinese lettering; the English dialogue is below. Humour is a reading aid, not evidence.
English dialogue
- Who's counting the money?
- Count the time as well.
Cost: what it takes
There is no cost to you. Your employer handles all the paperwork — you don’t need to do anything.
Benefit: what the source reports
The length of maternity leave is set by the State Council: “Female employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, including 15 days before delivery; an extra 15 days are added for difficult deliveries; for each additional child born, an additional 15 days of leave are granted.” The payments received during this period are known as maternity benefits. For employees covered by maternity insurance, these benefits are paid by the insurance fund at the rate of the employer’s average monthly wage from the prior year. Employees not covered by insurance receive benefits from their employer at the same wage level they earned before taking leave.
Conditions, limits and disagreements
98 days is the minimum standard mandated by the state. Most provincial regulations on family planning add at least 60 days of additional “reward leave” for childbirth, bringing the total to at least 158 days in most regions. The party responsible for paying wages during this reward leave varies by province.
Original references
Original bibliographic titles and links are preserved; some titles are in Chinese.
国务院 (2012). 女职工劳动保护特别规定（国令第 619 号，第七条、第八条）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2012-05/07/content_6584.htm；北京市人民代表大会常务委员会 (2021). 北京市人口与计划生育条例（2021 年 11 月 26 日修正，第十九条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081817d99878a017db82d98345523；上海市人民代表大会常务委员会 (2021). 上海市人口与计划生育条例（2021 年 11 月 25 日修正，第三十一条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081817f3b9178017f4f90542e04f4；广东省人民代表大会常务委员会 (2021). 广东省人口与计划生育条例（2021 年 12 月 1 日修正，第三十条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081817fb1209d017fb5c92e623844；四川省人民代表大会常务委员会 (2025). 四川省人口与计划生育条例（2025 年 11 月 28 日公布，第二十四条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081819aedd63e019b2b65f9852f95；国务院办公厅 (2024). 关于加快完善生育支持政策体系推动建设生育友好型社会的若干措施（国办发〔2024〕48号）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202410/content_6983486.htm
Medical, legal, financial and policy conditions vary by person, place and time. Policy material primarily concerns mainland China; check the cited document and current local requirements.