The Tokyo government is set to introduce a four-day work week for government employees in the capital city in an effort to support young families and boost record-low fertility rates.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike revealed the plan this week, announcing that, starting in April, employees of the metropolitan government will have the option to adopt a four-day work week.
“We’ll keep reviewing our work styles flexibly so that nobody has to give up their careers due to life events such as childbirth and childcare,” Koike said at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly’s fourth regular session.
“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.”
Koike also announced a separate policy to permit parents of students in grades one to three to leave work up to two hours early in exchange for a slightly reduced salary.
In 2021, the Japanese government first expressed support for a shorter working week, but the concept has been slow to take off. Currently, about 8 per cent of companies in the country allow employees to take three or more days off per week, with 7 per cent of companies mandating one day off, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The new program in Tokyo for a four-day work week aims to uphold productivity, while providing workers enhanced flexibility to, ultimately, address Japan’s ageing population and declining birth rates– both of which are set to cause significant labor shortages.
Only 727,277 births were recorded in Japan last year, with fertility rate (the number of children a woman has in her lifetime) dropping to a new low of 1.2, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
A population needs at least a fertility rate of 2.1 to remain stable, and Japan’s Health Ministry has warned the country only has a few years left to reverse its demographic decline.
Marriages in Japan have also dropped to 474,717, marking the lowest since World War II.
Experts point to several factors behind the low birth rate, including the country’s high cost of living and a lack of child care support in cities, meaning not as many families are able to have children.
A culture long working hourse in Japan is significant, with the nation even having a word– “karoshi”– for people dying from overwork. Japan reports one of the highest numbers of work-related fatalities, with at least 54 cases each year attributed to overwork.
Tackling this workaholic culture has become a government agenda in Japan, as women are often under pressure to choose between their career or family, due to pressure for overtime work.
The gender gap in the country’s labor force participation is higher than in other high-income nations, at 55 per cent for women and 72 per cent for men last year, according to the World Bank.
To combat this gender gap and population decline, other policy initiatives launched this year include efforts to enhance childcare services, improve housing facilities for families with children and, as city populations don’t provide as much space for families, some rural towns have begun paying couples who live there to have children.