Tokyo governor announces four-day work week to boost birth rates

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced a new four-day workweek initiative aimed at supporting families and boosting birth rates in Japan. During a recent policy speech at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, Governor Koike emphasized the importance of flexible work styles. Beginning in April 2025, Tokyo government employees will be able to take three days off each week while completing at least 155 working hours per month, according to Business Insider.

"We will review the entire system so that no one has to compromise their career in the matter of having or caring for children," Yuriko Koike stated, as reported by BFMTV. She also said, "Now is the time for Tokyo to take the lead in protecting and improving the lives, livelihoods, and economy of our people during these challenging times for the nation," as reported by News18.

The new regulation allows government employees—except those on shift work—to take up to three days off each week while maintaining their required monthly working hours. According to Sports Chosun, starting in April next year, if employees secure 155 working hours over four weeks, they can take one weekday off. Employees with children in the third grade of elementary school or younger can use about two hours of 'partial leave' to start work later or leave work earlier.

This initiative is part of a broader effort to address Japan's record-low fertility rates and improve work-life balance for public employees. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government believes that couples are having fewer babies because they are working too much, as reported by France Info.

Japan is facing a serious demographic challenge, with the fertility rate dropping to a record low of 1.2 children per woman in 2023, prompting new policies to encourage couples to have children. Japan recorded only 727,277 births last year, marking the eighth consecutive year of decline, raising alarms about the sustainability of the nation's population, as reported by News18. Despite various government initiatives to encourage young couples to have children, Japan's birth rate continues to decline, with Tokyo's birth rate even lower at 0.99, according to BFMTV.

Ten years ago, Japan was still recording more than one million births per year, but in 2024, it is expected to fall below the threshold of 700,000 babies born in a year for the first time, as reported by France Info. World Bank data from last year showed a significant gender gap in workforce participation in Japan, with rates of 55% for women and 72% for men, highlighting disparities in the workforce, according to BFMTV. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), "women in Japan do five times more unpaid work, such as caring for children and the elderly, than men," as reported by El Economista.

The Japanese work culture is characterized by long hours, a high work ethic, and a strong emphasis on productivity, often leading to overwork and even suicide, a phenomenon known as "karoshi," according to BFMTV. Many women in Japan face a difficult choice between career and family due to the culture of overtime work, compounded by the expectation to bear household responsibilities.

Prefectures including Ibaraki, Miyagi, and Chiba are rolling out similar four-day workweek plans in the near future for most municipal employees to support work-life balance and workforce retention, as reported by Popular Science. In Chiba Prefecture, it is reported that by November 1, 150 employees had taken three days off per week.

In 2022, a series of global trials conducted by 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit organization, involved several companies testing a four-day workweek pilot program, as reported by The Indian Express. Participants rated their experience in the pilot program an impressive 9.1 out of 10. The shift towards a four-day workweek is gaining traction in the West, with some companies exploring compressed schedules to attract talent seeking better work-life balance, although Japanese companies are more reluctant to adopt this system, viewing time spent at work as a form of loyalty, according to BFMTV.

Governor Yuriko Koike is especially concerned about losing female employees who have just had children and often give up working because they do not have the necessary support to care for their little ones, as reported by France Info. "Empowering women, a goal that has lagged far behind the rest of the world, has been a long-standing issue in our country," Koike said, according to Business Insider. Additional plans are reportedly underway in Tokyo to increase nursery school availability and fund options for egg freezing, as mentioned by Popular Science.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq