EDITORIAL | More Japanese Men Take Childcare Leave — and We Need More

The ratio of men taking childcare leave has risen to 30.1%, exceeding 30% for the first time. That is according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW)'s Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management for FY2023. It showed a sharp rise from the 17.1% level seen only the year before in 2022.

This change reflects developments such as the obligations of employers under the revised Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave and Other Measures. Employers must now inform employees about the childcare leave system and confirm their intentions when the employee informs the company that they or their spouse has become pregnant or will give birth.

Nevertheless, there is still a huge gender gap when considering that 84.1% of qualified women take childcare leave.

Creating a Work-Life Balance for Childcare

The government has set new goals for men to take parental leave. It wants that rate to rise to 50% by 2025 and to 85% by 2030. However, creating an environment where both spouses can balance work and childcare is necessary to achieve this.

"Solo parenting" is where the burden of child-rearing falls primarily on the female partner. Among other things, this has been identified as a factor contributing to maternal isolation and postpartum depression. It also makes it difficult for women to continue working. The promotion of paternity leave for men is therefore highly significant.

A different survey by the ministry found that the longer a husband spends on housework and childcare, the higher the birth rate for second or subsequent children. Meanwhile, Japan faces the vexing problem of a declining population. Hopefully, if more men took childcare leave, that could help lead to increased second and subsequent births.

*These children are playing in a park in Tokyo's Edogawa ward. May 4, 2023. (© Sankei by Kanata Iwasaki)*

Growing Awareness Among Young Men

In 2024, the ministry also conducted an awareness survey. Among responding 18 to 25-year-old men, 84.3% said they intended to take childcare leave. Based on other observations, however, men can be reluctant to take childcare leave because they fear a loss of income.

The government is due to expand childcare leave benefits from FY2025. Under the new arrangement, if both parents take parental leave for 14 days or more, their take-home pay will be increased from the current 80% of their pre-leave income to 100% for a maximum of 28 days. Hopefully, this new incentive will prove effective.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that some individuals will take childcare leave, but will not actually do much childcare.

Challenge for Small and Medium-Sized Companies

There are other issues as well. Small and medium-sized companies in particular have been slow to expand parental leave for male employees. Their reasons include problems such as "the inability to secure substitute staff for those who take parental leave."

This problem is illustrated by the percentage of people taking childcare leave by workplace size. For workplaces with 500 or more employees, 34.2% of eligible men took leave. However, that dropped to 26.2% for those with 5 to 29 employees.

Starting in fiscal 2025, companies with 300 or more employees must disclose the rate their male employees take childcare leave. This is a significant change from the current requirement that applies only to companies with more than 1,000 employees. Hopefully, companies that have not yet taken sufficient measures will use this opportunity to increase the momentum for their employees to take parental leave.

It is also important to reconsider our approach to how work is done. For example, it is easier to take leave if multiple employees are responsible for a particular job. That contrasts with the traditional style of just one designated individual handling any specific job.

(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun