年二胎全面放開:產假及就業需政策保障

There will no longer be any legal obstacle to the implementation of a universal two-child policy, if the draft amendment to the family planning law is approved by the top legislature by Sunday.

如果計劃生育法修正草案在星期日被中國最高立法機關批准，全面二孩政策的實施將不再會有任何法律障礙。

The proposed amendment, which is expected to come into force on Jan 1, contains a clause stipulating extended maternity leave and other welfare for couples having children. These are expected to boost the willingness of some couples to have a second child. Many couples have expressed reluctance to have a second child because of the high costs of bringing-up two children and the prejudice they anticipate from employers.

這項預計於2016年1月1日生效的修正案，包含一個子條款：爲生二孩的夫妻延長生育假和其它福利。這些政策有望提高一些夫妻生二孩的意願。然而，由於撫養兩個孩子的成本會更高，並且女性生二胎還要擔心公司老闆會有看法，所以許多夫婦都表示不願意再生。

How the longer maternity leave policy is implemented is up to local governments to decide. Specific and legally-binding measures should be worked out at the national level to ensure the policy is carried out and properly enforced to ensure that women are not discriminated against by employers obsessed with minimizing their labor costs.

延長的生育假如何落實往往由地方政府決定。國家層面應該頒佈執行細則以及具備法律約束力的相關措施，以確保該政策的貫徹實施和合理執行，從而保證女性不因勞動成本最小化而受到僱主的歧視。

Surveys indicate that a majority of women suffer or have suffered gender prejudice when looking for a job, because employers do not want to grant maternity leave. To avoid possible gender discrimination from employers as a result of their entitlement to maternity leave and increase their employment competitiveness, some female job seekers have reportedly chosen to get married and have their children before graduating from universities.

調查顯示，大多數女性在求職時正在或者已經因性別偏見受到影響，因爲僱主不願意提供產假。爲了避免僱主因需要付產假津貼和提高就業競爭力可能帶來的歧視，據報道，一些女性求職者選擇在大學畢業前結婚生子。

To ease women's concerns following the implementation of the two-child policy, the country should put in place more explicit regulations banning discrimination against women. These could include requiring companies to have a certain percentage of female employees, as well as tax cuts or other preferential measures to encourage employers to effectively implement the extended maternity leave regulation for female workers.

隨着二孩生育政策的出臺，爲了緩解女性的擔憂，國家應明確規定禁止歧視女性，包括要求公司有一定比例的女員工以及減稅或其他優惠措施，以鼓勵僱主有效實施女職工產假延長的規定。