Leader on Paternity Leave – level 3
23-01-2020 07:00
Japan’s environment minister says that he will be going on paternity leave at the end of the month when his wife gives birth to their first child.
Shinjiro Koizumi’s decision to take two weeks off makes him the first cabinet member in the country to take paternity leave.
Japanese law allows men and women to take up to one year of leave following the birth of a child; however, only about 6 percent of Japanese men took time off in 2018.
Koizumi’s announcement last year that he was considering paternity leave was met with criticism. On Wednesday, he told reporters that he struggled to work out how he could take paternity leave while fulfilling his duty as minister. According to the BBC, Koizumi will not miss important political events during his paternity leave.
Difficult words: paternity leave (a period of time when a father is allowed to stay away from his job and spend time with his new baby), cabinet member (the person who belongs to the most important people in government), struggle (to have difficulty with something).
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