The Japanese city of Tokyo is the latest in a growing list of governments and companies to try out a four-day work week, and some experts say Canadian families also stand to benefit from a long weekend every week if implemented in the right way.
Tokyo’s plan, which was announced last week and will roll out next April, is aimed at boosting Japan’s record-low fertility rate — something that Canada is also struggling with — while also giving public employees a more flexible working arrangement.
Canada’s fertility rate, which has been steadily declining, has plunged to a record low and the country is now among the “lowest-low” fertility nations.
But could polices like a four-day work week help encourage more people to have babies?
Carolynn Dubé, executive director with Fertility Matters Canada, said even though there isn’t data backing how effective such a measure could be for boosting a country’s fertility rate, it’s an “interesting” concept to explore as part of a holistic approach to family building.
“Countries really need to have a look at ways to help boost fertility rates … because the economic health of the country is so intimately tied to its fertility rate,” Dubé said.
“I think this speaks to more broadly and what I think for a country like Canada, we can consider is really having broader socioeconomic policies in place to help support family building.”
Tokyo is not the first local government to announce a four-day work week.
In the past year, Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures have already implemented this policy.
The concept is also not new in Canada, the U.S. or Europe, where some firms and different government entities have already experimented with it.
The shift towards a four-day work week has been gaining momentum especially post-pandemic, as employers around the world grapple with labour shortages, workers demanding better work-life balance, and shifting demographics as older workers retire and younger ones have fewer children.
A 2023 survey by recruitment firm Robert Half found 91 per cent of senior managers polled said they would support a four-day work week for their team, citing employee retention, productivity and well-being.
John Trougakos, a management professor at the University of Toronto, said by looking at the examples of different countries and organizations that have used the four-day work week model, it has shown to not only increase productivity but also lead to healthier outcomes.
“It’s proving to be a great way to help employees balance their work with their personal life and it helps them reduce burnout and stress and improve their well-being,” Trougakos.
“When we do provide people … with more personal time, they can dedicate that time to having better work-life balance, having more time to put towards their family, so that can’t hurt.”
Phillip Lipscy, director of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan and a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said generally speaking, work-life balance is a helpful policy measure to try to increase fertility rates, but a lot also depends on the implementation of such a plan and other measures that pick up the slack.
In the case of Tokyo, in order for publics servants to take that fifth day of the week off, they would have to extend their regular working hours over four days and that “isn’t necessarily going to help you with raising your children,” said Lipscy.
Compressing 40 hours of work in four days can make some workers more tired and less productive, Trougakos said.
Instead, employers should look at a meaningful reduction in time worked that allows employees to recover from the demands of their job and to spend time with their family, he said, adding that there is not a “one-size-fits-all for everybody.”
“The thing to keep in mind for any organization that’s interested in this, is doing it in a way that best meets their business objectives.”
Why is Canada’s fertility rate dropping?
Canada’s public service is not among those employers exploring a wide-scale four-day work model, said Rola Salem, a spokesperson for Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
“The federal public service offers competitive salaries, working conditions and benefits that support families, such as parental leave, leave with pay for family-related responsibilities, health, dental and disability benefits (including coverage for prescription fertility drugs), a defined contribution pension plan, and flexible work arrangements where possible,” Salem said in an emailed statement to Global News.
“Eligible indeterminate and term employees in the core public administration also have access to a number of options for flexible work hours.”
A spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada said that federal government initiatives like the Canada Child Benefit, affordable child care, improving Employment Insurance and a right to disconnect policy “could help those Canadians who are concerned about the costs of having children.”
According to Statistics Canada report released in September, the Canadian fertility rate in 2023 was 1.26 children per woman, which is the lowest recorded level since the agency began collecting data.
A StatCan report published in January said Canada, like other countries, is riding the “fertility ‘pandemic rollercoaster’” with more families putting off having children.
“Given the COVID-19 pandemic initiated a period of public health crisis, as well as economic and societal shocks, it is possible that a segment of the population responded to this period of widespread uncertainty via their childbearing choices,” it reads.
Experts also point to prolonged economic uncertainty, the high cost of living, housing challenges, lifestyle changes and prioritization of careers for the drop in births.
“Certainly the decline is multi-layered. We can’t blame it all on women are waiting longer,” Dubé said.
