Shenzhen Weighs Unmarried Mother’s Plea for Maternity Benefits

Judicial authorities in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong province, are hearing a case in which a local unmarried mother has sued the city’s health commission for her right to maternity benefits.

The case of Li Meng is just one of several such cases nationwide. It highlights the ongoing difficulties unmarried mothers face in getting adequate access to maternity rights and judicial protection, despite the country’s major policy shift last May to allow couples to have more children.