Published Aug 19, 2026 | 8:28 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 19, 2026 | 8:29 AM
Representational image. Credit: Creative Commons
Synopsis: Tamil Nadu has extended maternity leave for women government employees having a third child from 12 weeks to 365 days. The move comes amid concerns over declining fertility and an ageing population, though the government has not explicitly linked the decision to demographic concerns.
The Tamil Nadu government has decided to extend maternity leave for female government employees having their third child from the existing 12 weeks to a year, matching the benefit for the first two children.
Human Resources Management Minister D Sarathkumar announced the decision in the state Assembly during the demand for grants for his department on Tuesday.
“… as the Tamil Nadu government is a welfare-oriented administration prioritising social welfare and women’s empowerment, the maternity leave currently provided for the third child of female government employees will be enhanced from 12 weeks to 365 days,” Sarathkumar said.
At present, female regular government employees are eligible for 365 days of maternity leave for the birth of the first two children. The latest decision will effectively give women having a third child the same one-year leave available for the first two births.
A detailed government order is expected to be issued soon.
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Tamil Nadu has progressively expanded maternity leave for its government employees over the past 15 years. The original 90-day maternity leave period was increased to six months in 2011, extended to nine months in 2016 and subsequently raised to 365 days in July 2021.
The latest expansion comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is increasingly confronting a demographic shift marked by declining fertility and a growing elderly population.
Health Minister K G Arunraj recently said the state’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) had fallen below 1.4, considerably below the replacement level of 2.1. He said nearly 16% of Tamil Nadu’s population is above the age of 60, indicating that the state is gradually becoming an ageing society.
The minister had stated that the state might eventually have to consider measures to encourage couples to have more children.
“The birth rate in Tamil Nadu is gradually declining. This is definitely a major public health challenge. We need to meet officials from different departments and discuss how we can address this and improve the situation,” Arunraj said.
“There has to be a replacement level of fertility. We need to think about what efforts we can take to maintain the population at the current level,” he added.
The government has however not announced any incentive scheme for larger families, while Arunraj pointed to the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh’s policies and said such measures would be taken by the TN government eventually.
Andhra Pradesh has announced incentives of ₹30,000 for a third child and ₹40,000 for a fourth child, along with proposed nutritional support, free government education up to the age of 18 and subsidised fertility treatment, including IVF services.
“We were told that in Andhra Pradesh, there are government schemes providing incentives for couples to have a third child. Therefore, in the future, there could definitely be such things here too,” Arunraj said, while stressing that any intervention would require long-term planning.
The maternity leave decision therefore comes as Tamil Nadu weighs how its welfare policies should respond to changing demographic realities.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
