As a response to a declining birth rate, Japan will give government workers up to ten paid leave days per year for fertility treatment beginning in January 2022. The initiative has been taken by Japan to help couples planning a baby. By issuing the scheme, the National Personnel Authority eases the burden on part-time and full-time national public employees by allowing them to take five days of paid leave, with five additional days available if needed.
According to an online survey conducted earlier in January and February, 1.8% of the approximately 47,000 national public employees were undergoing fertility treatment. One in ten respondents said they had received treatment and three percent of national public employees said they had contemplated the treatment. About 62.5% of the people who have had the treatment or who are considering it said that balancing it with their jobs was ‘very difficult’. 11.3% said it was ‘impossible’.
Yuko Kawamoto, President of the National Personnel Authority, said the public sector will take the initiative. ‘I hope the move will encourage the private sector to follow suit so that time off can be broken up and used flexibly, such as taking a few hours off to see a doctor during work’.
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Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Prime Minister, announced plans to increase access to fertility treatment by including it in the country’s public health insurance from next April. 840,832 babies were born in Japan in 2020, a record low due to the social and economic impacts of Coronavirus infection. The total fertility rate in the country stood at 1.34, decreased by 0.02 points compared to the last year.
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