Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children

The purpose of this Act is to swiftly and thoroughly promote measures to support raising next-generation children by establishing fundamental principles and clarifying the responsibilities of the national government, local governments, employers, and the people regarding the measures to support raising the next-generation children, as well as by establishing guidelines for the formulation of action plans, action plans of local governments and employers, and other matters necessary for promoting the measures to support raising the next-generation children, considering the rapid decline in the birth rate in Japan and changes in the environment surrounding families and local communities, thereby contributing to the formation of a society in which the children who are to build a society of the next generation will be born and raised in good health.

The term "measures to support raising next-generation children" as used in this Act means measures implemented by the national government or a local government to support families that are raising or seeking to raise children who will build a society of the next generation, and other measures to create an environment in which children can be born and raised in good health, or measures implemented by employers to improve the employment environment and other efforts.

Based on the fundamental idea that parents and other guardians have the primary responsibility for childcare, measures to support raising next-generation children must be implemented with due consideration to improve the understanding of the significance of childcare and to allow parents and other guardians to experience the joy that comes from childrearing, both in domestic life and in other circumstances.

In accordance with the fundamental principles referred to in the preceding Article (referred to as the "fundamental principles" in the following Article and Article 7, paragraph (1)), the national government and a local government must endeavor to promote measures to support raising next-generation children in a comprehensive and effective manner while coordinating with each other.

In accordance with the fundamental principles, an employer must endeavor to implement measures to support raising next-generation children on their own initiative by improving the various working conditions of the workers they employ, creating a work environment that makes it easier for workers to take childcare leave, making efforts to shorten the working hours, and otherwise developing an employment environment necessary for allowing workers to balance their professional and domestic lives, and must cooperate with the measures to support raising next-generation children taken by the national government or local governments.

The people must foster their interest in and improve their understanding of the importance of the measures to support raising next-generation children and cooperate with such measures taken by the national government or a local government.