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Japan’s amended Paternal leave may start in October 2022

By on January 28, 2021

When Japanese environment minister, Shinjiro Koizumi announced that he was going to take about two weeks off over a period of three months after his wife gives birth, it created headline news in the country. In Japan, it is not very common for a Japanese dad to do that.

But after Japan’s policymakers mulled over the subject, a Japanese government panel has finally approved on Wednesday, an outline of a proposed law on a change in paternity leave to be introduced as early as October 2022. The new law allows for husbands whose wives have just given birth to take a paid paternity leave.

The decision to submit a draft bill in the currently ongoing ordinary session at the Diet to amend the law on child and family care leave was made by the Labor Policy Council, the government body that advises the labor minister.

Under the paid leave scheme, working dads applying for paternity leave will be entitled to benefits equivalent to 67% of their salaries under the current child care leave system. However, increasing the benefits paid under Japan’s employment insurance program has been scrapped.

Japan has one of the most generous national policies on paid paternal leave yet it is very uncommon for workaholic dads to apply for benefits, according to the OECD. The decision to provide paid paternity leave isn’t  just a matter of money for Japan.

This was a key policy measure of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga based on the idea that if dads were as actively engaged in child-rearing as moms, then shared parenting can make couples less stressed and might eventually lead to them having more children. Couples could also report back to work under the scheme which offers growing families financial security. Japan’s birth rate at an all time low has been a high concern for policymakers. There’s also a new proposal being discussed to  incentivize couples in Tokyo  with 100,00 yen worth of childcare items and services per new child born to the family.

Under Japan’s law, working dads and moms are allowed to take parental leave until the child reaches 1 year old. Moms can also take maternity leave starting from six weeks before childbirth and eight weeks after delivery.

 

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