While the government is struggling to raise the rate at which civil employees take paternity leave, in one municipal office over nine out of 10 eligible workers have taken time off for child-rearing following a change in mindset.
Public employees often feel obliged to continue work instead of taking paternity leave, but not at the Chiba city office, where former Mayor Toshihito Kumagai took charge of promoting awareness of work-family balance and trained managers to show more flexibility toward their subordinates.
"I needed the courage to take five months off, but the time was precious as I could watch my baby grow," Chiba city employee Takahiro Sano, 38, said, recalling his paternity leave from November 2018 to March 2019.