Japan's workers get day off for dating and mating
By David Turner in Tokyo
Published: June 16 2006 23:29 | Last updated: June 16 2006 23:29
Japan's notoriously hard-working salarymen are being given a chance by the government to cut their hours in a bid to improve their health – and their fecundity.
Workers who put in more than 40 hours of overtime a month will earn the right to an extra day off the next month, according to a policy paper prepared by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Employers will also have to pay them an extra-high rate for overtime above 30 hours, in an attempt to make companies think twice about asking their workers to burn the midnight oil.
The problem of overwork is particularly severe among men in their 30s, the ministry says. About a quarter work more than 60 hours a week, according to official figures, though the real number may be higher.
The Labour Consultation Centre, a non-profit organisation, takes many calls from both men and their wives complaining about overwork. Husbands grumble that they do not see their home for a week, says Ari Sugano, secretary-general.
Wives say they worry that their husbands might suffer ﾂ"karoshiﾂ", a word coined during Japan's economic miracle that means ﾂ"death from overworkﾂ".
This leaves Japan's 30-something male with little time to think of other things – such as starting a family. It is small wonder, then, that Japan's birthrate, at only 1.25 per woman and falling, is among the world's lowest.
The government plans to change this, with a better balance between work and leisure. ﾂ"If a man has time off he can do whatever he wants,ﾂ" says Shinichi Akiyama, a research officer at the ministry who has worked on the proposals. ﾂ"He can find a girlfriend, he can go out for dates, he can share in raising a child.ﾂ"