Maternity Allowance vs. Salary in China: Who Pays What?

An employee on maternity leave in mainland China is usually paid from two sources. If her employer has paid maternity insurance, the social insurance fund pays her a maternity allowance (生育津贴). Where that allowance is lower than her wage, or doesn’t cover every day of her leave, the employer pays the rest. Since early 2026 the allowance has gone directly to the employee across the country, which changes how payroll should handle the leave.

This guide is for employers with staff in mainland China. It covers the national rules and how Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen apply them.

Who pays: the national rule

Maternity insurance is paid by the employer; the employee pays no maternity insurance contribution. Where the employer has contributed, the fund pays maternity medical costs and the maternity allowance, and the allowance is calculated on the employer’s average monthly wage for the previous year (Social Insurance Law, Articles 53, 54 and 56). In practice, that’s the contribution-wage figure the local scheme holds for the employer, not the employee’s own salary.

If the employee is insured, the fund pays the allowance. If she isn’t, the employer pays her pre-leave wage itself. Maternity medical costs within the prescribed items and standards follow the same split (Special Provisions on Labour Protection of Female Employees, Article 8).

Because the allowance uses a company-wide average, it can be lower or higher than one person’s pay. All four cities in this guide make the employer pay the shortfall where the allowance is below her wage. Beijing and Guangdong also say expressly that an allowance higher than her wage stays with her.

Leave days and allowance days aren’t the same

National maternity leave is 98 days, including up to 15 days that may be taken before the birth. A difficult birth adds 15 days, and each additional baby adds 15 (Special Provisions, Article 7). All four cities add leave on top, but the fund doesn’t always pay for the extra days.

Shanghai pays the allowance for both national maternity leave and its 60-day birth leave (沪医保规〔2026〕5号, section 2), and the 60 days are treated the same as maternity leave (沪府规〔2022〕18号).

Beijing adds 60 days of extended maternity leave, during which wages can’t be reduced, but pays the allowance for 128 days: the national 98 plus 30. A difficult birth or each additional baby adds 15 allowance days (Beijing government). With the employer’s consent, she can take one to three more months. That is a separate arrangement, so put its pay terms in writing.

Guangdong (Guangzhou and Shenzhen) pays the allowance for 98 days, plus 30 for a difficult birth and 15 for each additional baby (Guangdong Employee Maternity Insurance Provisions, Article 16). The 80-day reward leave is paid by the employer at her normal wages (Population and Family Planning Regulation, Article 30, quoted by Shenzhen HRSS). Shenzhen’s medical insurance bureau confirms that reward leave is outside the allowance (Shenzhen HSA).

Direct payment changed the cash flow

Until recently, the fund in many places paid the allowance to the employer, which then paid the employee. Guangdong’s rules required the employer to advance the allowance at her original wage and claim it back (Guangdong Provisions, Article 17). In February 2026, the National Healthcare Security Administration reported that direct payment to the employee was in place nationwide (gov.cn). Local transitions:

• Shanghai was already paying directly by mid-2025 (Xinhua).
• Shenzhen: from 1 December 2025, by birth or procedure date. The employee can apply herself; earlier cases generally still go through the employer (Shenzhen HSA).
• Guangzhou: from 1 December 2025; eligible employees apply for payment to themselves (Guangzhou medical insurance notice).
• Beijing: from 31 January 2026. The employer still files the claim; for births at designated Beijing hospitals, the employee and employer only confirm details online (京医保发〔2025〕20号).

The old habit of paying full salary and keeping the allowance doesn’t work once the money goes to the employee, and there’s no single national replacement. Shenzhen says employers no longer need to advance the allowance; they should compare it with her original wage for the same days and pay any shortfall (Shenzhen HSA, May 2026). Beijing requires employers to manage the link between leave wages and the allowance so her pay is protected (京医保发〔2025〕20号, section 4).

So, before the leave starts, confirm who files and when the money is expected, whether local rules require you to pay anything in the meantime, and how wages already paid will be reconciled. Record the arrangement, preserve her full entitlement and don’t pay the same statutory days twice. Reconciliation isn’t permission to claw money back unilaterally or to remove more generous contractual pay. Social insurance contributions continue throughout the leave (沪医保规〔2026〕5号, section 6; Shenzhen HSA).

Four cities at a glance

Sources: Shanghai, 沪医保规〔2026〕5号 sections 3–4; Beijing, 京医保发〔2019〕32号; Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Guangdong Provisions Articles 15 and 17.

Contribution history matters too. Shanghai pays the full allowance after 12 cumulative or 9 consecutive months of employer contributions; below that, the fund pays a proportion and the employer advances the rest, which it can reclaim later if the rule’s conditions are met (section 4). In Beijing, if she has contributed for fewer than 9 consecutive months before the birth, the employer pays the allowance, and the fund pays it back once 12 consecutive months have been paid from the birth month (京医保发〔2019〕32号, section 2).

Worked example: Guangzhou or Shenzhen

Take a normal birth. The employer’s prior-year average monthly wage is RMB 12,000, and her average monthly wage over the 12 months before leave is RMB 20,000.

• Allowance, paid by the fund to her: 12,000 ÷ 30 × 98 = RMB 39,200.
• Her wage for the same 98 days, converted the same way: 20,000 ÷ 30 × 98 = RMB 65,333.33.
• Employer top-up: RMB 26,133.33.
• 80-day reward leave: the employer continues her wages for those 80 days, separately from the allowance.

If her average were RMB 9,000 instead, the allowance would still be RMB 39,200. Her wage equivalent for 98 days would be RMB 29,400, so she keeps the RMB 9,800 difference, and the reward-leave wages are still due on top.

The conversion of her wage by 30 days is for illustration. Article 17 sets the comparison, not a daily payroll method, so confirm the local practice before you calculate.

Employer checklist

• Contributions registered, paid on time and long enough for the local condition. Not enrolling her leaves the employer paying the benefit itself; a short contribution period may mean an advance that can be reclaimed later.
• The allowance basis and allowance days for her city.
• Her protected wage under the local definition.
• Employer-paid days: 30 in Beijing, 80 in Guangdong, plus any extra months agreed in Beijing.
• The payroll arrangement agreed and recorded before the leave: who files, when, and how wages and the allowance are reconciled.
• Social insurance continuing during the leave.
• Job protection: during pregnancy, maternity leave and the nursing period, the employer can’t dismiss her under Articles 40 or 41 (Labor Contract Law, Article 42). Our severance guide covers the routes that remain.

How NNRoad supports this

Under China Employer of Record, NNRoad helps file the maternity allowance claim for your employee. If you use our China payroll service instead, help with the claim can be arranged but should be agreed in advance. Our China employment law guide covers leave and other entitlements more widely. Talk to us about maternity leave planning and payroll.

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