In Japan, work gaps caused by the expansion of childcare and family care leaves are increasingly concentrated on unmarried and single employees, emerging as a new source of conflict in the workplace.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 7th, a recent survey by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, affiliated with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, showed that about 60 percent of companies reported that the majority of female employees ordered to relocate were unmarried.

A survey by the private think tank Persol Research and Institute also revealed that employees who took over the work gaps of colleagues engaged in family care worked an average of 5.6 more hours of overtime per month compared to other employees.

Responses expressing dissatisfaction with taking on extra work stood at 42.6 percent, while 69.2 percent responded that corporate support for handling these work gaps was meager.

While support systems for child-rearing generations have expanded—with Japan's male childcare leave usage rate exceeding 50 percent for the first time in fiscal 2025—critics point out that the resulting workloads and regional relocations are disproportionately shifting onto singles.

Changes in household structures are also fueling this discontent.

According to a Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare survey, the proportion of single-person households, which was 18.2 percent in 1986, surged to 35.4 percent in 2025. Conversely, during the same period, the proportion of traditional households consisting of a married couple and children plummeted from 41.4 percent to 24.3 percent.

Although the social structure has shifted to focus on single-person households, workplace systems are still operated based on the standard household of a couple with children, leaving single employees feeling alienated.

Consequently, Japanese companies are stepping up to devise countermeasures.

Daiwa Lease pays bonuses to colleagues who cover for employees on childcare leave, while SS Pharmaceutical provides an allowance of 100,000 yen (approx. 860,000 won) to colleagues covering for such absences.

Some companies are also introducing bonus points in personnel evaluations.

Experts suggested, "Since singles do not oppose childcare support itself, it is urgent to introduce flexible work systems that benefit everyone and establish practical compensation frameworks."

(Photo: Yonhap News)