Abstract: The changeover of Population Structure and Fertility policy have forced reformation to the Maternity Leave Scheme. Taking the reform of Maternity Leave Scheme as a breakthrough will optimize the fertility circumstance, and will improve the fertility-rate. Via summarizing four aspects of the British Maternity Leave Scheme, which are Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, sharing of vacation and income, and other welfare subsidies, four aspects are compared with the Chinese Maternity Leave Scheme, and five shortcomings are proposed. These are unbalanced sharing of childbirth costs, lack of flexibility in enjoyment, the reward nature of vacations, the insufficient coverage of vulnerable groups and lack of systematic exhibition of Scheme. Based on those, four targets are proposed for the development of Chinese Maternity Leave Scheme.

Key words: Maternity Leave Scheme, comparison between China and Britain, reform targets