Japan Urges Dads to Make Time for Babies Amid Population Worries

Japan’s new dads have been slow to take advantage of chances to spend more time with their newborn children, so the government is giving them another nudge.

Faced with the challenges that a declining population represents to its workforce, social security system, and security, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has rolled out new legislation, effective this month, requiring big companies to say publicly how many men are taking parental leave in the hopes that socially conscious employers will encourage the practice. Showing new dads the joys of fatherhood and easing the pressure on new moms—or so the thinking goes—will encourage ...