Photo/Illutration Environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi announces his plan to take paternity leave at his office in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Jan. 15. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A ruling Liberal Democratic Party project team will ask the government to consider covering up to four weeks in lost disposable income for fathers who take paternity leave.

The team revealed its interim proposal for paternity leave on March 24 and will soon ask the government to include the idea in its outline of social measures to halt the declining birthrate.

The outline is expected to be drawn up as early as this spring.

According to the labor ministry, only about 6 percent of male employees took paternity leave in fiscal 2018.

The government set a goal of raising the figure to 30 percent by 2025. The LDP team in its proposal also urged the government to achieve the target earlier than scheduled.

In the proposal, the team stated that it would be “preferable” for fathers to take paternity leave for four weeks after childbirth, citing the need to protect mothers both physically and mentally because they risk developing depression following changes in their hormone balance.

According to the proposal, the team will consider adopting measures to ensure the fathers will receive virtually the same amount of disposable income they were paid before paternity leave during the four-week period.

Those on employment insurance can receive benefits, in principle, while on child care leave.

Under the current system, they can get 67 percent of the income they earned before the paternity leave for the first six months after birth and 50 percent in the following months.

They are also exempt from paying social security premiums and other expenses while on child care leave, meaning they can receive benefits equivalent to about 80 percent of their take-home pay during the first six months.

Disposable income is defined as total personal income minus taxes and social security premiums.

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