Tokyo is turning to a 4-day workweek to boost fertility

Tokyo is adopting a 4-day workweek in a bid to help boost the nation's record-low fertility rates.

In Japan, the most recent data shows the corresponding figure for the average number of babies a woman is expected to have during her reproductive life came in at 1.20 in 2023.

Starting in April, the Tokyo Metropolitan government, one of the country’s largest employers, will allow its employees to work four days a week. Additionally, a new "childcare partial leave" policy will let some employees reduce their workday by two hours. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike stated that the aim is to help parents balance childcare and work.

"We will continue to review work styles flexibly to ensure that women do not have to sacrifice their careers due to life events such as childbirth or child-rearing," Koike said in a speech during the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly's regular session, the Japan Times reported.

Currently, Tokyo Metropolitan government employees use a flextime system to adjust their working hours, allowing them to take one extra day off every four weeks. This system will be revised to offer one extra day off per week, enabling employees to work four days a week and have the remaining three days off.

Koike also said they will continue to advance initiatives to address shortages in nursery school vacancies and support egg freezing.

Japan's births fell to record low in 2024

The number of babies born in Japan fell to a record low of 720,988 in 2024 for a ninth consecutive year of decline, said the health ministry, underscoring the rapid ageing and dwindling of the population.

Births were down 5% on the year, despite a range of steps unveiled in 2023 by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to boost childbearing, while a record number of 1.62 million deaths meant that more than two people died for every new baby born.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba noted the rise in the number of marriages.

"We need to be aware the trend of falling births has not been arrested. But the number of marriages posted an increase. Given close ties between the number of marriages and the number of births, we should focus on this aspect as well," he said.
 

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