Share of men taking childcare leave Japan 2014-2023

In 2023, around 30 percent of men in Japan took paternity leave. The share of fathers taking childcare leave jumped significantly, nearly doubling from the previous year.Parental leave in JapanJapan has a comparably generous parental leave system, which entitles mothers and fathers to up to one year of paid leave. However, while over 84 percent of mothers made use of their right, the share of fathers taking paternity leave remained small. A sudden increase occurred in 2020, likely driven by changing work styles during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Yet, rigid business culture and traditional gender norms that ascribe the responsibility for childcare and housework to women stood in the way of the government’s aim to increase the fathers’ parental leave take-up to 30 percent by 2025. In 2023, however, the paternity leave acquisition rate increased significantly.Amendments to the childcare leave systemRigid gender norms and a work culture that discourages men from taking childcare leave, in addition to a lack of childcare facilities and support for families, often leaves the burden of childcare solely on women. As a result, many women in Japan drop out of the workforce after childbirth. To address Japan’s pressing problem with declining birth rates, an amendment of the childcare leave system took effect in 2022, aimed at facilitating parental leave for mothers and fathers. The amendment made the existing system more flexible and introduced an additional paternity leave system for fathers directly after childbirth. In addition, it required companies to inform employees of their rights and report on the use of parental leave.

于2023年，日本约30%的男性采取了父亲假。父亲们在育儿假上的比例显著增加，几乎比上一年翻了一番。日本拥有相对慷慨的父母休假制度，赋予母亲和父亲最多一年的带薪休假权利。然而，尽管超过84%的母亲行使了这一权利，但采取父亲假的男性比例仍然较低。2020年出现了一次突然增加，这可能是由于冠状病毒（COVID-19）大流行期间的工作方式发生变化所驱动。然而，僵化的商业文化和传统性别规范，将育儿和家务责任归咎于女性，阻碍了政府旨在到2025年将父亲父母假接受率提高至30%的目标。然而，到了2023年，父亲假的采纳率显著上升。育儿假制度的修订：僵化的性别规范和一种不利于男性休假育儿假的工作文化，加之缺乏育儿设施和对家庭的支持，常常使得育儿负担完全落在女性身上。因此，许多日本女性在产后退出职场。为了解决日本日益严峻的出生率下降问题，2022年对育儿假制度进行了修订，旨在促进母亲和父亲休假。修订后的制度使现有体系更加灵活，并在婴儿出生后直接为父亲引入了额外的父亲假制度。此外，它还要求公司告知员工他们的权利，并报告父母假的使用情况。