Japan’s ruling party in 2022: 30% of fathers to take childcare leave by 2025. The 2025 survey found 50.9%
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan16 June 2022 · LDP 'J-File 2022' policy book for the House of Councillors election
«We will vigorously work to reach the goal of raising the share of men taking parental leave (fiscal 2022: 12.65%) to 30% by 2025.»
In the 2025 survey 50.9% of men took parental leave; 30% was already reached in 2023 (30.1%).
The goal was passed two years early: 30.1% in the 2023 survey. When the manifesto was written it was 12.65%.
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Fathers in Japan are entitled to childcare leave but for a long time hardly used it. Before the 2022 upper house election the Liberal Democratic Party promised to raise their share to 30%. Here is the share from the yearly survey of employers.
First the words: who said it, when and where, verbatim (translations are ours). Answer Yes or No, or just open the answer: the stamp is the outcome, below it what came of it. On the chart the dark line is the fact year by year up to the deadline, the pale one after it; the blue dashed line is the promised number from the year of the words to the deadline, the light band the time the promise gave; the ring on the line is when it was said, the ring in the stamp’s colour the fact in the deadline year, beside it how far it landed from the goal. The numbers on the right are the scale.
- Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, LDP 'J-File 2022' policy book for the House of Councillors election quote
«男性の育児休業取得率（2022 年度：12.65％）を 2025 年までに 30％とする目標の達成に向けて取組みを強力に推進します。» — We will vigorously work to reach the goal of raising the share of men taking parental leave (fiscal 2022: 12.65%) to 30% by 2025.
- What happened exceeded
In the 2025 survey 50.9% of men took parental leave; 30% was already reached in 2023 (30.1%).
Quote: the party’s «J-File 2022» policy book, item 406 (jimin.jp). Fact: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, yearly basic survey on equal employment (mhlw.go.jp). Outcome: «came true» — the promised number reached by the deadline («about» within 5%), an event happened before the end of the year promised; «exceeded» — with room to spare; «nearly» — short by no more than 10%; «late» — reached, but after the deadline; «did not come true» — not reached; «came true, then undone» — reached, then reversed. The deadline is the end of the year named.
The share counts everyone who started leave, even for a few days. The 12.65% in the manifesto is the 2020 survey result. Years are survey years: the 2025 survey asked about children born from October 2023 to September 2024. In 2024 the party raised the goal to 50% by 2025; that is a separate claim of the set.
A question for this picture
Why did the share of fathers on leave grow fourfold in five years after decades of hardly moving?