Japanese Male Parental Leave Increased Eightfold in 10 Years... But Short Duration Remains an Issue

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Announces "Record High Male Parental Leave Uptake"
Actual Duration Less Than 2 Weeks... Criticism of "Lack of Effectiveness"

Last year, the rate of men taking childcare leave in Japan reached an all-time high. The Japanese government praised the measure as successful in addressing the low birthrate by changing the conservative corporate culture, but critics argue that the actual childcare leave period per person is too short to encourage shared household responsibilities, calling it a "showcase" effort.

On the 31st, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced the results of a survey on male childcare leave in 2022, conducted on 6,300 workplaces employing five or more people. The acquisition rate reached 17.13%, the highest ever recorded. This figure rose by 3.16 percentage points from the previous year and has increased more than eightfold compared to ten years ago.

This appears to reflect some effectiveness of the government’s recent low birthrate countermeasures focusing on male childcare leave. Until now, male childcare leave had not become widespread in Japan. Japanese companies have generally held a negative view toward employees applying for leave, seeing them as "causing inconvenience to colleagues."

In fact, according to a 2021 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 26.2% of men who took childcare leave over five years experienced workplace bullying. This led to the emergence of the term "patahara" (paternity harassment), referring to harassment of employees taking male childcare leave.

In response, since April last year, the Japanese government has mandated companies to inform employees about the male childcare leave system and to check whether they intend to use it when their spouse gives birth. Additionally, from April this year, large companies with more than 1,001 employees are required to disclose their male childcare leave acquisition rates. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as of last month, 60% of large companies have disclosed these rates, with an average acquisition rate of 46.2%. The government plans to extend this requirement to companies with more than 300 employees and will soon submit a revision bill to the National Diet. The government’s ultimate goal is to raise the male childcare leave acquisition rate to 50% by 2025 and 85% by 2030.

However, some argue that it is still too early to evaluate the results positively. Due to the lingering negative perception of male childcare leave, as more men take leave, the actual leave period per person is becoming shorter. Japanese media pointed out that this is not at a level that can encourage male participation in childcare but has effectively become a showcase measure by companies.

Nikkei noted, "Although the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare did not include the duration of male childcare leave in the survey announced that day, the previous survey showed that over 50% of respondents said their childcare leave period was 'less than two weeks.'"

It added, "While the number of leave takers is increasing, there is a widespread view that the leave period per person is shortening. It is pointed out that a short period of about one to two weeks is insufficient for adequate childcare or household sharing."

Ultimately, Japanese media emphasize that comprehensive reforms in work styles must follow as part of low birthrate countermeasures. Nikkei added, "For small and medium-sized enterprises, it is more difficult than for large companies to share workloads or secure substitute personnel," and "reconsideration of workplace task distribution and reforms in work styles are essential."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.