Over Half of Male Japanese Govt Workers Take Child Care Leave

Tokyo, Oct. 6 (Jiji Press)--The share of eligible male regular employees of the Japanese government who took child care leave in fiscal 2020 stood at 51.4 pct, exceeding 50 pct for the first time, the National Personnel Authority said Wednesday. The figure for the year to March rose a substantial 23.4 percentage points from the previous year's 28.0 pct. The child care leave usage rate for eligible women came to 99.4 pct. Central government personnel in regular employment are allowed to take child care leave until the child turns 3 years old. The government agency attributed the sharp increase in men's usage rate to government efforts to remind staff frequently about the child care leave system, as well as an arrangement introduced in fiscal 2020 under which those in managerial positions have to take the lead in drawing up child care leave plans after listening to eligible workers. The length of child care leave taken by male government employees averaged 1.8 months, while the average period for women came to 16.6 months. Of the men who took child care leave, the largest share, 50.6 pct, took leave of between two weeks and one month. Among participating women, those who took leave of more than nine months to 12 months made up the biggest group, at 30.8 pct. END