Birth rate|Tokyo’s administration is experimenting with a four-day work week starting next spring because the city’s number of children is plummeting.
of Japan the capital Tokyo is experimenting with a new way to increase the country’s birth rate: the metropolitan area’s administration allows its staff to work four-day weeks.
The idea is that increasing free time increases interest in family life.
The financial media that reported on the matter Financial Times (FT) describes the change as a “radical experiment”. According to FT, employees should be able to choose which day they take off.
The change is known to benefit only thousands of people in the huge urban area, but is fundamentally a significant change in the rigid Japanese working world.
Greater Tokyo depending on the calculation method, almost 40 million people live in the area.
The number of children born in Tokyo fell by 15 percent between 2021 and 2022. FT does not specify how broad the concept of Tokyo is meant.
In any case, the birth rate of the country is plowing. Last year, the bottom of the statistical history was reached with just over 700,000 children. For example, in the 1970s, it reached about a couple of million children a year.
Many Japanese also rejected sex because of the corona restrictions. The experts reported on the findings in November.
Japan is known for its disciplined work culture, and in the country they say “karōshista”, about dying from work stress.
Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike commented on the reform that with flexibility “no one has to sacrifice their career because of life events, such as childbirth or child care”.
According to Koike, the background is also to improve the status of women.
Four days British organization lobbying for the working week 4 Day Week Global accepted the change of direction with joy.
It commented to the FT that experiments around the world with a four-day work week produce similar and encouraging results, regardless of the social structure.
“Productivity increases, the means to attract and retain the workforce increase and sickness absences are halved”, says the organization’s founder Charlotte Lockhart.
Hanke starts in April.
Japanese magazine According to Mainich’s English edition employees also get flexibility in when they start and end their working day.
Parents of children in grades 1–3 are also allowed extra days off.