New measure seeks to encourage employers to allow childcare leave use
A Japanese city is introducing a new incentive in a bid to encourage small businesses in allowing their male employees to take childcare leave, according to reports.
The Mainichi reported last week that Tsukuba City in Ibaraki Prefecture will be rolling out the new incentive this month.
Tsukuba Mayor Tatsuo Igarashi said this comes as smaller companies are "less likely" to treat men taking childcare leave as a given.
"We hope that by providing support as a government, companies will understand this and allow male employees to take leave without worrying that they will cause trouble for others," Igarashi said as quoted by The Mainichi.
Incentive mechanics
Under the incentive, small- and medium-sized businesses will be granted incentives based on the number of days their male employee took a paternity leave.
Employers who had an employee take 14 to 27 days of paternity leave will receive JPY100,000 as an incentive. For others:
- 28 to 55 days (JPY200,000)
- 56 to 83 days (JPY300,000)
- 84 days or more (JPY400,000)
Employers who hired a substitute worker will also see 50% of the cost added to their total incentive, up to a maximum of JPY100,000.
To be eligible, a male Tsukuba resident of the employer should have taken at least 14 days of childcare leave starting on or after October 1.
The employee should also render at least a month of work after returning to his role, according to The Mainichi report.
Applications for the programme will open on November 15 and will close on March 15, 2024.
Childcare leave in Japan
Tsukuba's latest offering is among the latest measures Japan is taking to encourage childcare leave in the country.
Early this year, the national government began making organisations publish their ratio of male employees taking paternity leave.
It also earmarked JPY3.76 billion in the next fiscal year to subsidise small businesses that will provide allowances to employees covering for staff who are on childcare leave.
This comes amid the low uptake of childcare leave in Japan. In 2022, only 17.13% of men took paternity leave. The national government wants this hiked to 85% by fiscal 2030 to address the country's falling birth rate.
