TOKYO will be introducing a four-day work week for government workers in the nation’s latest bid to boost low fertility rates and help working mothers.
With the western world’s growing interest in the four-day work week – seen as a way to achieve work-life balance, Japanese companies are still grasping the concept since they believe in the amount of time spent at work equates to employee’s loyalty for the firm.
According to CNN, with the new arrangement beginning in April, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government could give three days off every week to employees with children.
The government also announced a separate policy that will allow workers with children studying in grades one to three om elementary schools to give up a portion of their wages for the option to leave work earlier.
“We will review work styles … with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or childcare.
“Now is the time for Tokyo to take the initiative to protect and enhance the lives, livelihoods and economy of our people during these challenging times for the nation,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike was quoted as saying.
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According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the fertility rate of the country plummeted to a low 1.2 with only 727,277 births recorded last year.
A country’s population is stable if it reaches a fertility rate of 2.1.
As birth rates decline, the Japanese government has taken initiatives to mitigate the population crisis at hand by ensuring new fathers take paternity leaves while other local governments have worked on improving work conditions.
Several sociologists have pointed out that the plunging birth rates in Japan are due to “unforgiving work culture”, as quoted, and high cost of living.
Long work hours have been a prevalent issue in Japan’s corporate ecosystem however it reportedly makes the prospect of raising children and pregnancy especially “daunting”, as quoted.
