EXCERPTS
The percentage of female workers who took childcare leave in fiscal 2015 fell 5.1 percentage points from the previous fiscal year to 81.5 percent, while that of male workers rose 0.35 percentage points to 2.65 percent, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry’s Basic Survey of Gender Equality in Employment Management.
The percentage of men edged up and was the highest ever recorded. But the figure for women hit its lowest level since fiscal 2007, when it surpassed 80 percent. The survey was conducted on 5,850 businesses across the nation, and 67.7 percent made valid replies.
In large businesses with 500 or more employees, the percentage of women who took childcare leave was 93.8 percent. This figure was up 2.4 percentage points from the previous year.
Among small-scale businesses with five to 29 employees, however, the percentage slumped 11 percentage points to 67.9 percent.
A ministry official said, “We want to make progress in creating an environment in which workers in small businesses can take childcare leave more easily.”
-reprinted from The Japan News