Tokyo government gives workers four-day workweek to boost fertility, family time
Tokyo: In a move aimed at addressing Japan's shrinking birth rate, the Japanese capital is set to introduce a four-day workweek for its employees. This initiative is part of broader efforts to increase fertility rates, encourage family time and support young families, particularly in the face of Japan’s aging population.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced that the metropolitan government's employees will be able to take three days off every week beginning in April next year.
In a policy speech at the fourth regular session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, she said that they will review work styles to ensure that no one has to give up their career due to life events like childbirth or child care.
Koike also announced a separate policy to allow parents of primary school-aged children to leave work early in exchange for a slightly reduced salary. "In these difficult times, Tokyo must take the lead in safeguarding and improving the lives, livelihoods, and economy of our people," she said.
Only 727,277 births were recorded last year, with the fertility rate - the number of children a woman has in her lifetime - dropping to a fresh low of 1.2, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. For a population to remain stable, it needs a fertility rate of 2.1.
The move also comes as Japan continues to grapple with a gender gap in the labour market. The World Bank reports that last year, 72 percent of men participated in the workforce, compared to just 55 percent of women.
The new four-day workweek will reportedly apply to more than 160,000 employees of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, one of Japan's largest employers.
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Class 8 student stabs, injures classmate outside Gujarat school
Balasinor (Guj), Aug 22 (PTI): A Class 8 student stabbed and injured his classmate over a dispute outside a school in Gujarat's Mahisagar district, police said on Friday.
The incident has come days after a Class 10 student was killed in a similar attack outside a private school in Ahmedabad.
A Class 8 student attacked his classmate using a sharp object after school hours on Thursday near the gate of a government-run primary school in Balasinor town, an official said.
Superintendent of Police Jaydeepsinh Jadeja said, "Based on a complaint given by the victim's father, we have registered an FIR against the accused juvenile. The victim is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital, and his condition is stable."
Balasinor police on Friday registered a case against the accused teen under sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 118 (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or harmful means) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, he said.
According to the injured boy's father, his son was attacked over a trivial issue.
"My son's classmate got angry over some minor issue and stabbed him with a small knife. My son sustained stab wounds on his back, abdomen, and near his shoulder," the victim's father said.
On Tuesday, a boy studying in Class 10 was stabbed to death, allegedly by a fellow student, near the main gate of the Seventh Day Adventist School located in the Khokhra area of Ahmedabad.
The victim died during treatment later that night.
