Japan's Paternity Leave Policy Fails to Encourage Fathers to Take Time Off

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to increase the number of male workers taking paternity leave from 14% to 50% by 2025 and 85% by 2030, as part of a raft of policies aimed at reversing the country's declining birth rate. However, many Japanese men are too scared to take paternity leave due to potential repercussions from their employers, and smaller firms still have reservations. Experts caution that a low birth rate is often a sign of entrenched cultural factors that would likely be resistant to policy changes.