Photo/Illutration A Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare poster to be displayed at offices to urge employees to take parental leave (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The percentage of men taking child care leave in Japan rose to 17.13 percent in fiscal 2022, the highest ratio yet, a labor ministry survey shows.

But the figure is still well short of the government’s goal of raising the ratio to 50 percent by fiscal 2025 as a means to improve the birthrate.

The labor ministry surveyed 6,300 workplaces with at least five employees and received responses from 53 percent of them.

The financial and insurance sector had the highest ratio of male employees taking paternity leave at 37.28 percent, followed by medical care and welfare at 25.99 percent.

Sectors with low ratios included wholesaling and retailing at 8.42 percent and hotel and restaurant services at 9.06 percent.

It was generally easier for those working with large staff to take paternity leave.

Workplaces with 500 or more employees had a 25.36 percent ratio of male employees taking paternity leave. This compared with only 11.15 percent for workplaces with between five and 29 workers.

Among women, the overall maternity leave ratio was 80.2 percent, a decrease of 4.9 percentage points over the previous year.

A ministry official said staff shortages among smaller companies that made it more difficult for women to take leave likely lay behind the decrease.

Companies with more than 1,000 employees have been obligated since April to publicize their ratio of male employees taking paternity leave.

The ministry also released the results of its study into whether companies were complying. It said only 33.4 percent of 4,409 firms had bothered to report their ratios.

Of companies whose business year ended in March and were required to release their paternity leave ratios by the end of June, 86.8 percent had already done so or were planning to.

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