4-day work week in bid to boost births

Tokyo - Tokyo's governor wants to introduce a four-day work-week for government staffers in the capital as part of a nationwide push to encourage parenthood.

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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called Japan's stubbornly low birth rate a "quiet emergency" and has pledged policies like flexible working hours.

The expectation that working mothers should still shoulder domestic burdens, raise children and care for relatives is believed to be a key factor behind the dearth of babies.