Leader on Paternity Leave – level 2

23-01-2020 07:00

The Japanese environment minister is going on paternity leave. He wants to take two weeks off when his wife gives birth to their first child. Shinjiro Koizumi is the first Japanese minister who wants to take paternity leave.

In Japan, it is the law that men and women can stay away from work for up to one year after the birth of a child. However, only about 6 percent of Japanese men went on paternity leave in 2018.

When Koizumi announced last year that he wanted to go on paternity leave, some people criticized him. On Wednesday, he said that it was difficult to find a solution how he could stay away from work and work as minister. Koizumi said that he will attend important political events during his paternity leave.

Difficult words: paternity leave (a period of time when a father can stay away from work and spend time with his new baby), criticize (to give an opinion about something, often in a negative way), attend (to take part in an event).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.

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