Continuously improved policies ensure better family lives for women: white paper

BEIJING -- By continuously improving policies supporting family development, China has enhanced families' capacity for development and created favorable conditions for women to enjoy better family lives, a white paper released Friday by the State Council Information Office said.

Laws and regulations including the Civil Code, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests, and the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, have been promulgated to protect women's rights within marriage and the family, said the white paper titled "China's Achievements in Women's Well-Rounded Development in the New Era."

Marriage and family counseling services are widely available at marriage registration authorities at or above the county level nationwide, it said.

The childbirth leave system has been enhanced, with local regulations extending maternity leave and paternity leave and introducing parental childcare leave.

Nursing facilities have been provided. By the end of 2024, 403,000 enterprises and public institutions with trade unions had set up nursing rooms for female employees, said the white paper, adding the provision of baby care rooms in public places has also been expanded.

China has introduced more diverse services to reduce family care burden. For instance, the domestic service sector continues to improve in quality and expand in scale. By the end of 2023, there were approximately 600,000 domestic service entities and 16,000 women-led domestic service community stations.