China is now offering dating leave to single women over 30

So Dating Leave Is Now A Thing

Are you single, female and over 30? - by Kathryn Madden

Annual leave; maternity leave; bereavement leave … dating leave?

Two large businesses in China have announced that they’re offering single female employees over the age of 30 eight extra days of annual leave per year. Their advice to unmarried women during their week-long sabbatical? “Go home and date.”

It comes following news that China’s marriage rates have dropped dramatically in the last decade, as a growing cohort of women choose to focus on their careers and stay single longer – despite the fact that females over 27 are considered “leftover women” in the East Asian nation.

And the “perks” don’t stop at extra holidays. According to a statement from one of the businesses: “Marriage certificates received before the end of 2019 will receive a double end-of-year bonus from the company.”

Sure, extra holidays and a wedding bonus sound appealing in theory, if not a sure-fire way to further stigmatise singledom. Not to mention one rather significant flaw in the plan (for heterosexuals, at least): the companies haven’t offered comparable dating leave to men.

Kathryn Madden

Kathryn Madden is marie claire's Features Editor and spends her days writing about fashion, feminism and everything in between (nostalgic nineties throwback pieces are a a personal preference). In addition to marie claire, she's had work published in InStyle, Qantas, Virgin and Home Beautiful magazines.