Maternity Leave - Proposal To Increase To 7 Months For Mothers Of Second Children

The Ministry of Health proposes increasing maternity leave for women having their second child from 6 months to 7 months. This proposal is part of the draft Population Law aimed at maintaining the replacement birth rate, which is currently at a record low in Vietnam.

Proposal To Increase Maternity Leave To 7 Months For Mothers Of Second Children

Maternity leave for women having their second child may be extended to 7 months, which is one of the notable proposals in the draft Population Law currently being submitted by the Ministry of Health to the Government. This proposal is expected to bring many benefits to both female employees and society, aiming to address a pressing national issue.

Urgent Issue: Vietnam’s Birth Rate Falling to Alarming Levels

To understand the importance of the proposal to increase maternity leave, we need to look at the overall picture of Vietnam’s current population situation, especially the alarmingly declining birth rate.

Worrying Data on Record Low Birth Rates

According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Health, the national birth rate is showing a deeply concerning downward trend:

• Year 2021: The national birth rate was 2.11 children per woman, which is just enough to maintain population stability, also known as the replacement birth rate.
• Year 2024: The birth rate has dropped to only 1.91 children per woman. This is the lowest birth rate in Vietnam’s recorded history and has fallen below the replacement birth rate.

Demographic experts warn that if this trend continues without effective intervention measures, Vietnam will face serious consequences for its population, economy, and society in the future. Prolonged low birth rates lead to rapid population aging, a shortage of young labor, affecting economic development and social security.

Proposed Solution: Increasing Maternity Leave In The Population Law

In this context, the proposal to increase maternity leave for women having their second child to 7 months is considered one of the important and timely solutions, included in the draft Population Law currently being developed.

Details of the Proposal to Increase to 7 Months for the Second Child

This proposal focuses on extending maternity leave by 1 month, increasing the total leave for women having their second child to 7 months. To understand this better, let’s compare it with current regulations:

• Current Regulations: Female employees who give birth are entitled to 6 months of maternity leave (maximum 2 months before birth). In case of twins or more, from the second child onwards, the mother is entitled to an additional 1 month of leave per child.
• New Proposal: Increase to 7 months for the second child. Other regulations regarding pre-birth leave, multiple births, etc., may be maintained or adjusted in the Population Law.

This increase in maternity leave is expected to bring many practical benefits:

• For mothers: Having more time to recover health after childbirth, especially after the second birth, and also having more time to bond with and care for the child during the important early stages of life.
• For families: Reducing the economic and time burden of childcare in the early stages, creating conditions for families to feel secure in having and raising children.
• For society: Contributing to encouraging having enough of two children, gradually stabilizing and increasing the birth rate, ensuring human resources for the future of the country.

Population Law 2025: Comprehensive Solution for Population Issues

The Population Law 2025 is not limited to adjusting maternity leave. This is a major legal project, aiming to build a comprehensive and synchronized population policy system, including 3 key policy groups to fundamentally solve population issues:

• Maintaining the replacement birth rate: Policies to encourage having enough of two children, creating a favorable environment for childbirth and raising children, including maternity leave policies.
• Reducing gender imbalance at birth: Intervention measures to bring the sex ratio at birth back to a natural balance, addressing the current gender imbalance.
• Improving population quality: Investing in health, education, nutrition, etc., to improve the health, physical, intellectual, and spiritual well-being of the people, ensuring the quality of the population is increasingly improved.

Progress Of Development And Expectations For The Population Law 2025

Currently, the draft Population Law is being urgently finalized by functional agencies. The Politburo has directed the Party Committee of the National Assembly and the Party Committee of the Government to strengthen coordination, accelerate the development progress, and submit the Law to the National Assembly for approval in 2025.

The promulgation of the Population Law 2025 is expected to be an important turning point in Vietnam’s population work, creating a solid and synchronized legal framework to address population challenges, towards the goal of sustainable population development, in harmony with the socio-economic development of the country.

The proposal to increase maternity leave for women having their second child to 7 months, which is included in the draft Population Law 2025, is a positive and promising sign. This is not only a concern for the rights of female employees, but also a strategic solution to respond to the low birth rate situation, towards the goal of stabilizing and sustainably developing Vietnam’s population in the future. Let us wait and hope that the Population Law 2025 will be soon approved and put into practice, bringing positive changes to population work and the development of the country.