In Japan, with the law enacted in 2021, men were given the right to 4 weeks of paternity leave, but the rate of those using this leave remained at the level of 14 percent across the country. Therefore, it was seen that 86 percent of the men did not use paternity leave. When this incentive law, which was enacted to increase low birth rates, did not serve its purpose, the Japanese government announced a new package that includes increasing child support and paternity leave. This announced package, is aimed to increase the rate of male employees who take 4-week paternity leave by 50 percent by 2025 and to 85 percent by 2030.
Hisakazu Kato, a professor of economics at Meiji University in Tokyo, said that large companies are more accepting of paternity leave, while small companies are afraid of labor shortages due to the leave, which puts pressure on young fathers. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, who accepted this view, announced that they had prepared some incentives for small and medium-sized companies within the scope of paternity leave.
Less than 800,000 new births occurred in Japan in 2022, the lowest level since records began in 1899.
The total fertility rate in Japan, that is, the average number of children a woman can have during her fertile period, has dropped to 1.3 per woman. For a stable population, this figure should be at the level of 2.1.
"The next 6-7 years will be the last chance to reverse the declining birth rates," Prime Minister Kishida said in a statement.
On the other hand, according to Stuart Gietel-Basten at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the reason for the low birth rate in the country is mostly cultural factors and will not be affected by these policy changes.
Experts say that the pessimism that young people have fallen into in recent years due to job pressure and economic recession also affects birth rates.
Source: https://www.indyturk.com/node/619186/world/heavy
