The key to turning around Japan's declining birthrate is to improve the work-life balance for both women and men, asserts Yoko Kamikawa, new state minister for population issues and gender equality.

"It's important for the government to take measures that enable each individual to work (outside the home) and serve their families and communities in a balanced manner," the 54-year-old Kamikawa said in a recent interview.

Long working hours and inadequate support for women eager to work after having children have prevented many from achieving a sustainable work-life balance, she said.

According to the Cabinet Office, one in four male employees in their 30s worked more than 60 hours weekly in 2004, while about 70 percent of working women quit their job when they got pregnant or gave birth to their first child.

"There are some people who want to marry or have a child but don't do so because they are worried about (marriage and child-rearing) in this society," said Kamikawa, a mother of two who first won a Lower House seat in 2000 after working as a researcher at a private think tank. "It's most unfortunate that people's hopes have not come true because of social circumstances."

Japan's total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime — has declined over the past 30 years, reaching an all-time low of 1.26 in 2005. The rate rose to 1.32 in 2006, as the economic recovery encouraged some to marry or have children, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

Since 1994, the government has taken a number of steps to reverse the declining birthrate, including introducing a paid leave system that gives parents time to raise their children and increasing allowances for families with small children.

But the effect has been minimal, and Kamikawa said she wants to find out why.

A government panel is currently drafting a "work-life balance charter" and an action plan that will include numerical targets for shortening work hours and adjusting the workforce ratio for women with children. The panel will adopt the action plan by the end of the year and is also expected to call for needed changes in tax and social security measures.

Such plans, however, are unlikely to be binding, and it remains to be seen whether they will have any real impact on businesses.

While saying such action plans are vital to realizing goals, Kamikawa was unable to detail the concrete steps she wants to take during her Cabinet stint.

Currently, the government provides ¥10,000 a month to families with a child under age 3 and ¥5,000 for first and second children between the ages of 3 and 12. For each subsequent child, the allowance is ¥10,000 up to the age of 12. However, an income cap disqualifies some families from collecting the allowances.

Prior to the July 29 Upper House election, the Democratic Party of Japan pledged to increase the monthly allowance to ¥26,000 per child through junior high school age.

Although the DPJ is now the largest party in the Upper House, Kamikawa dismissed the proposal as "questionable," claiming it would cost ¥6 trillion. However, she said providing additional support to families with small children would lead to greater gender equality.

The government hopes to increase the percentage of women in managerial positions at private and public organizations, and in professions such as doctors, to 30 percent by 2020.

In 2005, only 10 percent of management posts in Japan were held by women, while it was 42.5 percent in the U.S., 37.3 percent in Germany and 34.5 percent in Britain.

As one of only two female state ministers in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new Cabinet, Kamikawa is among the tiny fraction of women in Japan responsible for setting policy.

"I wish the Cabinet could have more female ministers," she said. "I will have to work hard as a state minister so that other female lawmakers will be able to take Cabinet posts (in the future)."