Submission of amendments to related laws to the regular National Assembly… Effective from April next year
The Nippon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 26th that the Japanese government is mandating that companies with more than 100 employees set and announce a target value for the male childcare leave acquisition rate.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare decided to submit an amendment to the ‘Next Generation Development Support Measures Promotion Act’ with these contents in mind at this regular session of the National Assembly.
If the bill is passed by the National Assembly, it will take effect in April 2025. There are approximately 50,000 companies affected by this law.
The structure is such that goals are specified in the ‘General Employer Action Plan’ based on this law, and the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare recommends and requests correction for companies that do not establish or announce a plan. For companies with less than 100 employees, setting goals is mandatory.
The target level can be freely set by the company. Companies with low targets are assumed to not have a parental leave system in place, so it is inevitable that it will be difficult to attract talented people who value the balance between child care and work. In order to attract excellent talent, it is necessary to set high goals and maintain internal systems to achieve them.
The rate of men taking parental leave has been mandatory for companies with more than 1,000 employees since April last year, and will be expanded to companies with more than 300 employees from April 2025. By making it mandatory to set goals, you can also see the difference between goals and performance.
The rate of Japanese men taking parental leave was 17.1% in 2022. Although it has increased significantly from 1.9% in 2012, it is still low compared to 80.2% of women. In 2021, men’s parental leave period was also shorter than that of women, with 51.5% taking less than 2 weeks and 95.3% taking more than 6 months.
Regarding the government’s system reform, Nihon Keizai said, “Survey results show that men’s participation in child care alleviates the burden of child care, which is skewed towards women, and increases couples’ motivation to have children,” and added, “We are calling on companies to create a system that makes child care easier.” It was reported that it was to “urge.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.