Japanese male Public Servants took advantage of child care leave in record numbers during fiscal 2019, the Minister in charge of Public Service Reform says.
Taro Kono said 16.4 per cent of eligible fathers took the leave, an increase of four percentage points on the previous fiscal year.
“We have to make child care leave for men common in our society,” Mr Kono said.
He suggested the need to continue encouraging Public Servants to take more days off “to build a society that is more conducive to paternity leave”.
The Government has been encouraging men in both the private and public sectors to take child care leave, but the practice is not widespread in Japan, a country with a declining birth rate.
The Ministry for Health reported the highest ratio among eligible male staff at 59.2 per cent, the Ministry of Finance also had a high rate at 43.6 per cent.
The Ministries that fell below a Government-set target of 13 per cent included the Ministry of Defence and the Imperial Household Agency, both with just over five per cent.
Among those taking such leave, 68.4 per cent were away for a month or less, followed by 15.5 per cent who took leave for longer than a month but not more than three months.
The Government has been compiling figures on parental leave since fiscal 2004.
Tokyo, 27 January 2021
