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Tokyo is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees

The Japanese capital is set to introduce a four-day workweek for government employees, in its latest push to help working mothers and boost record-low fertility rates.

“We will review work styles … with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or childcare,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike when she unveiled the plan in a policy speech on Wednesday. Japan ’s fertility rate, which has seen a precipitous fall for many years, reached another record low in June, even as the government ramped up efforts to encourage young people to get married and start families. Grueling hours have long been a problem for corporate Japan where workers often suffer from health hazards and, in extreme cases, “karoshi,” a term meaning death by over work.

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