Oh, baby!
Tokyo is offering its employees a four-day workweek in an attempt to boost the city’s birthrate.
Governor Yuriko Koike recently announced that the city’s government employees will be given the option to have a three-day weekend beginning in April 2025.
Another new policy will allow parents with elementary-aged children to clock out early in exchange for a pay cut.
The revolutionary policies in the world’s largest city are attempts to encourage couples to have children as Japan continues to report a record-low fertility rate for the 16th consecutive year.
The number of babies born in Tokyo decreased by more than 15% between 2012 and 2022.
Tokyo’s four-day experiment comes after many studies and attempts have shown that a shorter work week leads to a long list of benefits for a company and its employees.
Similar programs have already been instated in other areas of Japan.
“We will review work styles … with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or child care,” Koike said in a policy speech at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly’s fourth regular session, NBC reported.
“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 said.
In 2023, Japan’s fertility rate dropped to 1.2 children expected per woman during her lifetime; experts claim that the nation needs that number to reach at least 2.1 for the population to remain stable.
Experts believe the dip in births to be partially attributed to Japan’s intense work culture. The country even has a term for “death by overwork” — karoshi — that often forces women to choose between their careers or family.
The country has the widest gender gap in labor force participation of any high-income nation — 55% for women and 72% for men last year, according to the World Bank.
As more Japanese women are continuously opting to focus on their careers instead of their families, the country has struggled with a labor shortage and the world’s highest ratio of elderly people.
To combat the ongoing issue, Japan has offered cash incentives for larger families, tax breaks, created more daycare centers and even released a government-sponsored dating app that requires users to promise that they are using it with the goal of marriage.
