This is important labor statistics published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in July 2025, conducting detailed surveys on women's promotion to managerial positions and parental leave take-up rates by gender. The survey targets approximately 6,400 business establishments and about 18,000 workers nationwide, serving as fundamental data for quantitatively understanding progress in gender-equal society.
Regarding women's promotion to managerial positions, the proportion of women at section chief level reached 12.3%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous year's 11.7%. Department head level reached 8.9% (previous year 8.4%) and subsection chief level reached 19.8% (previous year 19.1%), showing gradual but continued upward trends. By industry, medical/welfare (32.1%), accommodation/food services (28.7%), and retail (24.3%) show high female manager ratios, while construction (4.2%), manufacturing (7.8%), and transportation (8.9%) remain at low levels.
Company size analysis shows medium-sized companies with 30-99 employees having the highest female section chief ratio at 15.2%, while large companies with 1,000+ employees show lower rates at 9.8%. This reflects the reality that smaller companies have greater necessity for talent utilization and must promote capable personnel regardless of gender.
Regarding childcare leave take-up status, women's take-up rate reached 86.6%, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year's 85.1%, reaching a record high. Men's take-up rate reached 40.5%, significantly up 10.4 percentage points from the previous year's 30.1%, achieving the 40% level for the first time. This reflects the effects of measures promoting men's childcare leave take-up under the revised Child Care and Family Care Leave Act implemented in October 2022 (including creation of paternity leave system).
Regarding men's childcare leave duration, "less than 1 month" was most common at 47.8%, followed by "1-3 months" at 31.2% and "3-6 months" at 12.4%. For women, "12-18 months" was most common at 34.2%, showing significant gender differences in take-up duration. Men's average take-up period is about 2.3 months, substantially shorter compared to women's approximately 11.8 months.