To correct the chronically low birthrate, it is crucial to develop an environment in which both men and women can participate in raising children.
A Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry council has started considering ways to encourage men to take childcare leave. Based on its discussions, the government intends to submit a bill to revise the Child Care and Family Care Leave Law to next year's ordinary Diet session.
The government has set a goal of raising the percentage of men taking childcare leave to 30% in 2025. In fiscal 2019, however, the figure stood below 8%. It is hoped that efforts will be made to boost the percentage by analyzing the factors behind the sluggish growth.
The council is expected to discuss measures to accelerate employers' efforts to encourage their male employees to take such leave.
The percentage of men taking childcare leave is believed to be greatly affected by their employers' awareness of the issue and working environments.
The current law urges employers to make efforts to explain to their employees the details of the childcare leave system and the treatment they will receive after taking the leave, once they learn that an employee or their spouse is scheduled to give birth. Envisaged plans to revise the law are likely to focus on making it mandatory for employers to inform all their employees of the system.
Since fiscal 2017, the Chiba city government has launched a full-fledged initiative in which supervisors conduct an interview with male employees to whom a child has been born and ask them about plans to take childcare leave. If operations are likely to be disrupted, the municipality changes the person's work responsibilities or secures a substitute employee.
As a result, the percentage of men taking such leave climbed to above 90% in fiscal 2019 from the 10% range in fiscal 2016.
Many men hesitate to take childcare leave due to an unreceptive atmosphere at work, even though they want to take it. It would be effective if their supervisors actively discuss the matter.
It is necessary to show consideration for entities such as small and midsize companies so that the obligation for employers does not result in an excessive burden on their operations.
Another issue to be considered is encouraging men to take childcare leave immediately after their wives gave birth. It is believed that this could help prevent women from suffering from postpartum depression, as well as raise the awareness of fathers from an early stage.
Under the current law, employees are required to apply for childcare leave at least a month before taking it, in principle. It would be better to make the system more flexible by shortening this period to allow them to take such leave immediately.
There are also many people who do not take childcare leave because it will lead to a decrease in their income.
While on leave, employees can receive up to 67% of their monthly pay and up to about 300,000 yen in employment insurance benefits. To increase the amount of the benefits, it is essential to secure new sources of funding, including an increase in insurance premiums. Discussions must be held from a comprehensive perspective.
It is important not only to encourage employees to take childcare leave but also to create an environment that will allow them to strike a balance between work and child-rearing. Companies are urged to make efforts to improve the efficiency of their operations and rectify the practice of long working hours.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Oct. 19, 2020.
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