Japan Paternal Leave Rate Tops 5 Pct for 1st Time

May 31, 2018

Tokyo- The proportion of men who took child-rearing leave in Japan in fiscal 2017 rose 1.98 percentage points from the previous year to 5.14 pct, topping 5 pct for the first time, a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry survey showed Wednesday.

The figure for the year that ended in March, however, is still far below the government-set target of 13 pct for calendar 2020.

"Although promotion measures had produced some results, the rate remained low," a ministry official said.

Meanwhile, women's child-care leave rate rose 1.4 points to 83.2 pct.

The survey was conducted in October last year covering 6,160 companies and offices with five or more employees each. Of the total, 62.8 pct gave valid responses. Jiji Press