The proportion of male corporate workers in Japan who had recently become fathers and taken child care leave as of Oct. 1 2023 stood at a record high of 30%, following new government regulations requiring businesses to confirm whether employees intend to take leave, according to government report released Wednesday.
The health ministry also linked the significant rise in paternity leave uptake to government efforts to raise awareness about the paternity leave system among businesses. Both initiatives launched in the spring of 2022.
The record represents a 13 percentage point increase from the previous year. The findings were based on survey responses from 3,495 companies with five or more employees.