Record 16% of fathers in Japan's civil service took child care leave in 2019
The health ministry reported the highest ratio among eligible male staff at 59.2%, while the Defense Ministry and the Imperial Household Agency recorded figures of just over 5%.
Although Japan leads the world in paid-leave provisions for fathers, according to U.N. Children's Fund data, only 7.48% took child care leave in fiscal 2019.
Men have tended to be reluctant to take child care leave, due to uncertainties about their income and pressure from their workplace.
Nearly all of Japan's new fathers in public service plan paternity leave
"We're hopeful that the plans will actually be put into action," an official at the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs said.
Most Japan bureaucrats taking paternity leave to be off for month
The release of the data follows the start of an initiative to have managers in central government create child care leave plans for their male subordinates.
Swedish ambassador to Japan offers hints on making the best of paternity leave
Pereric Hoegberg wants Japanese fathers to take a more active role in parenting.
A private panel advising the government is also calling for creating an environment where all new fathers can take paternity leave.
Japan pushes male public servants to take longer paternity leave
The government will encourage its eligible male personnel to use child-rearing leave for at least a month in principle, starting in fiscal 2020. Although the number of government employees taking paternity leave has been increasing, the period booked is shorter than a month in most ...
Family dynamic shifts as schools remain closed nationwide
Japanese dads are coming under scrutiny — again. Ever since Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi officially made ikumen (men who take an active role in child-rearing) fashionable by publicly taking two weeks off for paternity leave, fathers who let their spouses shoulder all the burden ...
Fathers at many Japanese firms take less than month of paternity leave
The average period of paternity leave taken by new fathers is shorter than the period widely viewed as necessary to support postpartum mothers at more than half of large Japanese firms, a Kyodo News survey has shown. In a survey of 110 big companies, 64 ...
Japan Inc. urged to change entrenched views of paternity leave
As one of the country's most high-profile politicians breaks new ground for a Cabinet minister by taking paternity leave, some lawmakers and businesses are aiming to change the way corporate Japan views time off for new dads. Although Japan leads the world in paid-leave provisions ...
