More Japan fathers embrace childcare leave amid push by government, companies
- Japan has one of the world’s most generous paternity leave systems but the number of fathers utilising it has remained relatively low until now
- Societal and corporate pressure have prevented fathers from taking time off but companies are moving to improve paternity leave rates
Despite having one of the world’s most generous paternity leave system already before the revisions, the number of fathers making use of it has remained relatively low until now.
But the number of days that the average father took for paternity leave has risen to 23.4 according to a 2023 survey conducted by home builder Sekisui House, up from just 2.4 in 2019. The percentage of those who have taken paternity leave has also risen to 24.4 per cent, up from 9.6 per cent four years ago. The survey polled 9,400 people with children of elementary school age or younger.
A government push to encourage fathers to take childcare leave has been at least partially responsible for the jump. With revisions to the childcare law last year, fathers can be more flexible about taking leaves in batches in the eight weeks after their child’s birth, making the leave they were already entitled to more accessible.
From April, companies with at least 1,000 employees have also been required to disclose what percentage of their employees take paternity leaves. That has added to societal pressure on companies to let fathers take time off to care for children.
Japan’s paternity leave system, which allows up to 52 weeks of paid time off, is the second most generous among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as of last year. In comparison, the US does not have any national statutory paid paternity leave, while the average among OECD nations is 10.4 days.
Still, few men had been actually using the system due to a mixture of societal and corporate pressure.
