In a bid to encourage men to participate more in childrearing, the government intends to establish a new system that will allow men to take leave immediately after the birth of a child, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
In Japan, there are two kinds of maternity and paternity leave -- sankyu, literally meaning childbirth leave, and ikukyu, or childcare leave. Paternity childcare leave already exists, while paternity childbirth leave does not.
The new system will legalize men taking childbirth leave, which currently exists only for women. The government is considering providing larger benefits during childbirth leave than childcare leave, to reduce drops in people's household income.
The government plans to start creating the system this autumn, and to submit bills to next year's ordinary Diet session to revise the law on care for children and family members.
Under the current maternity childbirth leave system, women are allowed to take six weeks off before their expected delivery date and eight weeks after delivery. The new system will provide new fathers with the opportunity to support new mothers during a time when they are under heavy physical and mental strain, and is expected to help prevent mothers from suffering postpartum depression.
As early as September, the government will consult with the Labor Policy Council, an advisory body to the labor minister, and start working on concrete plans for the system, including specifying the length of the leave.
One reason why men hesitate to take childcare leave is concern about a drop in their income. Thus, the government and the council are expected to discuss increasing benefits under the new system and simplifying administrative procedures.
Currently, both men and women can take childcare leave until a child turns 1 year old. Under certain circumstances, such as being unable to enroll a child in nursery school, childcare leave can be extended until a child turns 2. During such leave, 67% of a person's monthly salary is paid under the employment insurance system until a child is 6 months old, and half the salary from 7 months on.
Under the current system, men can take a second childcare leave if they take the first leave within eight weeks after their wives give birth. If both parents take childcare leave, the period can be extended until a child becomes 1 year 2 months old.
However, the number of male employees taking childcare leave has not increased as much as hoped, for economic and other reasons. According to a survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in fiscal 2018, 82.2% of women took childcare leave, while only 6.16% of men did. Nearly 90% of women said they took leave of "six months or more," while over 80% of men said they had "less than a month."
Given this situation, the government came up with the idea of creating the new paternal childbirth leave system to make it easier for men to take leave immediately after a baby is born. The government plans to encourage companies to let their employees use the new system, with a view to raising the benefit rate.
In the outline of measures to tackle the declining birthrate adopted by the Cabinet in May, the government set a target of raising the percentage of male employees taking childcare leave to 30% by 2025. The government is encouraging men to take part in childcare and hopes the new system will be one of the main pillars to achieve the goal.
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