Japan’s capital Tokyo is planning to introduce a four-day workweek starting April 2025 to help working mothers and boost record-low fertility rates in the country. The Tokyo Metropolitan government is all set to allow its employees to work only four days a week to help the country shed its title of ‘world’s oldest population’.
The Tokyo Metropolitan government also announced that parents whose children study in grades one to three in elementary schools, will be allowed to trade off a bit of their salary for the option to take off early. It has decided to implement ‘child care partial leave’ system, which will allow workers to go home early for up to two hours a day.
Addressing a policy speech at a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly’s regular session, Gov. Yuriko Koike talked about how the administration has planned to give the importance of flexible work-styles, especially for women.
“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 was quoted by Japan Times as saying.
Gov. Yuriko Koike said admitted to that the country has been lagging behind in empowering women.
“Empowering women, a goal that has lagged far behind the rest of the world, has been a long-standing issue in our country,” Koike said. She went on to say that the government is trying to create an environment to overcome this situation in an attempt to create a future where both men and women can thrive.
In October 2024, Miyagi Prefecture, located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu, became the first in the Tohoku region to announce that it plans to extend its four-day workweek option to all prefectural employees by 2025-26.
The Tokyo Metropolitan government has announced that the government employees will be allowed 4-day workweek to boost fertility and and introduce flexible work-styles, especially for women which would help Japan increase its population. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
