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Tokyo will allow staff to work four days a week as the world’s largest city begins a radical experiment to reverse Japan’s low birth rate.
The program adds Tokyo to a growing global movement among local and national governments to adopt a “4 on, 3 off” approach to work-life balance, and for the 16th consecutive year Japan’s population This was carried out at a time when the market was on the decline.
Starting in April 2025, the Tokyo project will allow employees to adjust their working hours and have complete freedom to choose one day each week. The project is expected to benefit thousands of city government employees.
A wider range of non-working hours and greater flexibility should, in theory, reduce the difficulties of raising children. The number of babies born in Tokyo decreased by more than 15% between 2012 and 2022.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly this month, “We will continue to flexibly review work styles so that no one has to sacrifice their career due to life events such as childbirth or childcare.” There, a four-day week was planned.
She added that the goal of improving the status of women has been a long-standing challenge for Japan, and that the country “lags far behind the rest of the world” in this area.
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Tokyo’s four-day-a-week experiment follows similar programs in prefectures and municipalities across the country.
Koike’s enthusiasm also stems from his involvement with 4 Day Week Global, a UK-based non-profit organization that promotes the multiple benefits of shorter working weeks. The organization has conducted pilot trials around the world to assess the impact of policies that often meet fierce resistance from traditionalists.
The founders of 4 Day Week Global said the measures taken by the Tokyo metropolitan government were “unusual in a country with a reputation for inflexibility in this field, which actually uses the word karoshi for death by overwork.” ” he said.
Founder Charlotte Lockhart said the organization’s four-day experiment in 20 countries with different political regimes, social expectations for work and different stages of economic development, including South Africa, Brazil and Germany, had shown no results. said it was “boringly consistent.”
“Productivity has increased, our ability to attract and retain staff has improved, and sick days have been nearly halved,” Lockhart said. “The benefits are very tangible and this transcends national borders.”
He added that the consistency of the results stems from the fact that no matter the situation or country, people claim they don’t have enough free time. In the case of Japan, authorities have identified this as part of the reason why birth numbers remain low, she said.
As the number of babies born in Japan looks set to drop below 700,000 in 2024 for the first time since records began in 1899, Tokyo is betting on the magic of the four-day week.
The numbers confirm Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s recent warning that Japan’s demographics are a “silent emergency.” . . It challenges the very foundations of the country. ” The economy is already facing the effects of labor shortages and the highest proportion of elderly people in the world. The decline in the birth rate is occurring more rapidly than expected.
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Despite government efforts such as cash incentives for large families, tax breaks, and more childcare facilities, the number of babies born in Japan fell below 1 million in 2016 and is expected to fall below 800,000 by 2022. Ta.
Tokyo’s efforts to combat the declining birthrate are becoming increasingly desperate. Tokyo launched a dating app this year. This is because the official partnership with the software and strict membership rules are expected to reduce anxiety and attract users who are seriously thinking about getting married and starting a family.
In addition to personal and educational information, the app asks users to commit to using the app for marriage, not short-term love. Tokyo Governor Koike is one of the politicians who believes that Japan’s low marriage rate is a direct impediment to increased births.
