[ad_1]
The Tokyo government plans to introduce a four-day work week for its employees in a bid to support young families and boost record low birth rates across the country.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has announced that starting in April, metropolitan government employees will be able to take three days off each week.
“We will review working styles … with flexibility, ensuring that no one has to give up their career because of life events such as giving birth or caring for children,” she said during a policy speech at the fourth regular session of the Metropolitan Assembly of Tokyo.
The new policy aims to encourage Japanese couples to have children at a time when the country’s birth rate is at a record low.
Last year it fell to just 1.2 children expected per woman in her lifetime, even with increased government efforts to motivate young people to start families, according to the Department of Health, Labor and Welfare.
This number must be at least 2.1 for the population to remain stable.
Koike unveiled an additional policy allowing parents with children in primary schools to exchange part of their salary for the option to leave early.
“Now is the time for Tokyo to take the initiative to protect and improve the lives, livelihoods and economy of our people in these challenging times for the nation,” she said.
Only 727,277 births were registered last year in Japan, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. This may be due in part to Japan’s overtime culture, which often forces women to choose between career and family. After all, the country’s gender gap in labor force participation is higher than in other high-income nations, at 55 percent for women and 72 percent for men last year, according to the World Bank.
However, implementing a four-day work week could provide civil servants with more time to devote to raising their families.
In a series of global trials in 2022 coordinated by 4 Day Week Global, a non-profit organization, various companies took part in a pilot program for a four-day work week.
More than nine out of ten employees who participated in these trials wanted to continue with the four-day work week. They reported that it gave them improved physical and mental health, work-life balance, and increased overall life satisfaction. Measures of their stress, burnout, fatigue, and work-family conflict decreased. These participants rated their experience 9.1 out of 10.
Earlier this year, another Asian country put the shortened work week to the test.
Singapore introduced new guidelines that require all businesses to consider employee requests for flexible working arrangements, including four-day work weeks or staggered hours.
[ad_2]
