Macau, China, Feb. 8, 2026 (Lusa) - The Macau Government on Sunday rejected calls to increase paternity leave, despite the Chinese region's intention to extend maternity leave and annual holidays in order to reverse the region having the world's lowest birth rate.
At the first session of a public consultation, representatives from two of the territory's most important traditional associations advocated extending paternity leave, currently set at only five working days.
A leader of the General Union of Macau Residents' Associations said that paternity leave should be extended to 15 days or, alternatively, part of the maternity leave could be taken by the father.
The representative, surnamed Sit, argued that the measure could help fathers play a more active role, particularly in the first months of a baby's life, especially if the mother is still recovering from a caesarean section.
A representative of the Macau Women's General Association also called for the lengthening of paternity leave to encourage fathers to take care of their children and "promote gender equality."
But Maria Chu Pui Man, head of the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL), rejected the calls and said only that fathers could, as is currently the case, take days off to support their families after the birth.
The public consultation, which runs until 16 March, is based on a proposal by the DSAL to extend maternity leave in the private sector from 70 to 90 days - a figure already applied to civil servants - with the costs to be shared between the Government and employers.
The authorities also want to increase annual leave in the private sector, based on seniority. For 40 years, permanent residents of Macao have been entitled to only six paid days of annual leave. Civil servants are entitled to 22 working days.
The territory's government proposes that workers be entitled to one additional working day of holiday for every two years spent at the same company, up to a maximum of 12 working days per year.
One of the objectives of the changes, said DSAL director Chan Un Tong on 30 January, is to allow the population of Macao to "achieve a better balance between work and family life".
In 2025, the government commissioned a study "from a third party" - whose identity was not disclosed - on the possible increase in maternity leave and annual leave, which was completed at the end of the year.
The study included a survey, according to which workers consider both the current maternity leave and annual leave "insufficient to meet family needs".
When asked by Lusa about the potential impact of the changes on the birth rate in Macao, which in 2024 was the lowest in the world, Chan Un Tong replied that the aim is to "improve workers' right to rest".
In 2025, Macau recorded 2,871 newborns, a drop of 20.4% and the lowest number of births in almost 50 years, said Tai Wa Hou, deputy director of the Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre, on 1 January.
In 2024, Macau recorded only 0.58 births per woman, far below the figure needed for generational replacement (2.1), the lowest fertility rate ever in the region and the lowest in the world, according to official data.
This figure is even lower than the estimate made in a report released in July by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA): 0.68 births per woman.
Although more optimistic, the UNDESA estimate already indicated that Macau had the lowest birth rate in the world in 2024, far ahead of the second jurisdiction on the list, Singapore, with 0.95 births per woman.
VQ/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
