More Men Taking Childcare Leave in Japan

According to the Basic Survey on Employment conducted annually by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, 30.1% of working fathers in Japan took childcare leave in fiscal 2023. This is an unprecedented 13.0 point surge over the previous year, and the eleventh straight year-on-year increase.

Following a revision to Japan’s system of childcare and nursing-care leave, from April 2022 companies are required to inform employees reporting a pregnancy or birth of the system of leave and confirm whether they intended to make use of it. The survey was based on the percentage of employees taking or applying for childcare leave by October 1, 2023, among those who became fathers between October 2021 and September 2022. The findings indicate that it has become easier to take such leave since the revisions to the system were implemented.

Among the men taking childcare leave, 15.7% did so for less than five days, 22.0% from five days up to two weeks, 20.4% from two weeks up to a month, and 28.0% from one to three months, so that a total of 86.1% took less than three months off from work. Meanwhile, 84.1% of working mothers made use of childcare leave, with 92.5% of these taking time off work for six months or longer. These results show that a huge gender gap remains when it comes to the use of childcare leave.

The government has set a goal of increasing the rate of men taking childcare leave to 50% by 2025. As a measure to encourage society-wide childcare leave, the current requirement for companies with 1,000 or more employees to disclose the rate of childcare uptake will be extended to include companies with at least 300 employees, starting from April 2025.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)