婚假制度的功能边界与中国优化路径：基于日韩经验的比较分析 = The Functional Boundaries of the Marriage Leave System and Policy Optimization in China: A Comparative Analysis Based on Japanese and South Korean Experiences

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

在青年结婚意愿持续走低、晚婚不婚现象日益显著的背景下，婚假作为直接作用于青年婚姻行为的重要制度工具，其实际效用与功能边界值得重新审视。本文从青年婚姻决策成本出发，将婚假理解为一种同时具有“时间资源供给”和“制度信号释放”功能的基础性婚姻支持工具，并以日韩实践为比较对象，结合中国现实情境，分析了婚假影响青年结婚意愿的作用机制及其受限条件。研究发现，婚假高度依赖于制度可及性、配套政策完整性、劳动市场结构以及文化适配度。日韩经验表明，在相似的东亚家庭文化之下，不同国家的劳动市场结构、企业福利传统、家庭主义取向和性别角色认知差异会显著影响婚假制度的运行方式和实际效果。因此，婚假难以单独改变青年对结婚、生育和家庭责任的综合判断。其核心功能在于降低进入婚姻的行动门槛，缓解婚姻决策中的时间约束，并向青年释放制度支持婚姻家庭的积极信号。基于此，中国婚假制度优化不宜停留在延长假期层面，而应进一步转向提升可获得性、完善成本分担机制、增强与住房、就业、婚俗改革和生育支持政策的协同性，从而推动婚假从单项休假规定转化为婚育友好型社会建设中的基础性制度安排。

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Against the background of declining marriage intentions among young people and the growing prevalence of delayed and non-marriage, marriage leave, as an institutional instrument directly related to young people’s marital behavior, deserves renewed examination in terms of its actual effectiveness and functional boundaries. From the perspective of the costs involved in young people’s marriage decision-making, this study conceptualizes marriage leave as a foundational form of marriage support that provides both “time resources” and “institutional signals.” Taking Japanese and South Korean practices as comparative cases and situating the analysis in China’s social context, this study examines the mechanisms through which marriage leave affects young people’s willingness to marry, as well as the conditions that constrain its effectiveness. The findings show that the effectiveness of marriage leave depends heavily on institutional accessibility, the completeness of complementary policies, labor market structures, and cultural adaptability. The experiences of Japan and South Korea indicate that, within a broadly similar East Asian family culture, cross-national differences in labor market structures, corporate welfare traditions, familistic orientations, and gender role perceptions significantly shape the operation and actual effects of marriage leave systems. Therefore, marriage leave alone can hardly change young people’s overall assessment of marriage, childbearing, and family responsibilities. Its core function lies in lowering the action threshold for entering marriage, easing time constraints in the marriage decision-making process, and sending a positive institutional signal that marriage and family formation are socially supported. Accordingly, the optimization of China’s marriage leave system should not remain limited to extending leave duration. Instead, it should shift toward improving accessibility, establishing cost-sharing mechanisms, and strengthening coordination with housing, employment, marriage custom reform, and fertility support policies, thereby transforming marriage leave from a single leave entitlement into a foundational institutional arrangement within the broader construction of a marriage- and fertility-friendly society.