# 次世代育成支援対策推進法 / Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children — 第一章 (Chapter 1) - Law: 次世代育成支援対策推進法 (Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children), 平成十五年法律第百二十号 - English title "Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第一章 (Chapter 1) — address `ch-1` - Text in force since: 2025-06-01 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/ch-1 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/ch-1 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ## 第一章　総則 — Chapter I General Provisions heading: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ch-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/ch-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/ch-1 ### 第一条（目的） — (Purpose) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-1 **第一項** この法律は、我が国における急速な少子化の進行並びに家庭及び地域を取り巻く環境の変化にかんがみ、次世代育成支援対策に関し、基本理念を定め、並びに国、地方公共団体、事業主及び国民の責務を明らかにするとともに、行動計画策定指針並びに地方公共団体及び事業主の行動計画の策定その他の次世代育成支援対策を推進するために必要な事項を定めることにより、次世代育成支援対策を迅速かつ重点的に推進し、もって次代の社会を担う子どもが健やかに生まれ、かつ、育成される社会の形成に資することを目的とする。 art-1/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-1/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-1/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation with a slip corrected by this site — not the Ministry's text; the Ministry printed: "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." — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/5162/tb ### 第二条（定義） — (Definitions) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-2 **第一項** この法律において「次世代育成支援対策」とは、次代の社会を担う子どもを育成し、又は育成しようとする家庭に対する支援その他の次代の社会を担う子どもが健やかに生まれ、かつ、育成される環境の整備のための国若しくは地方公共団体が講ずる施策又は事業主が行う雇用環境の整備その他の取組をいう。 art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-2/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-2/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ### 第三条（基本理念） — (Fundamental Principles) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-3 **第一項** 次世代育成支援対策は、父母その他の保護者が子育てについての第一義的責任を有するという基本的認識の下に、家庭その他の場において、子育ての意義についての理解が深められ、かつ、子育てに伴う喜びが実感されるように配慮して行われなければならない。 art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-3/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ### 第四条（国及び地方公共団体の責務） — (Responsibilities of the National Government and Local Governments) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-4 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-4 **第一項** 国及び地方公共団体は、前条の基本理念（次条及び第七条第一項において「基本理念」という。）にのっとり、相互に連携を図りながら、次世代育成支援対策を総合的かつ効果的に推進するよう努めなければならない。 art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-4/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-4/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ### 第五条（事業主の責務） — (Responsibilities of Employers) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-5 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-5 **第一項** 事業主は、基本理念にのっとり、その雇用する労働者に係る多様な労働条件の整備、育児休業を取得しやすい職場環境の形成、労働時間の短縮の取組その他の労働者の職業生活と家庭生活との両立が図られるようにするために必要な雇用環境の整備を行うことにより自ら次世代育成支援対策を実施するよう努めるとともに、国又は地方公共団体が講ずる次世代育成支援対策に協力しなければならない。 art-5/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-5/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-5/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ### 第六条（国民の責務） — (Responsibilities of the People) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-6 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-6 **第一項** 国民は、次世代育成支援対策の重要性に対する関心と理解を深めるとともに、国又は地方公共団体が講ずる次世代育成支援対策に協力しなければならない。 art-6/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-6/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-6/par-1 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. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-4/par-1: 前条 → 次世代育成支援対策推進法 第三条 (Article 3), art-3 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-3 - art-4/par-1: 次条 → 次世代育成支援対策推進法 第五条 (Article 5), art-5 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-5 - art-4/par-1: 第七条第一項 → 次世代育成支援対策推進法 第七条第一項 (Article 7, paragraph (1)), art-7/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/next-generation-support-act/art-7/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/415AC0000000120/art-7/par-1 --- ## Sources - claude-opus-5-5 — Corrections to the Ministry of Justice's English of the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, written 2026-10-19 - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 次世代育成支援対策推進法 — the text in force from 2025-06-01 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/415AC0000000120/20250601_504AC0000000068), retrieved 2026-10-19 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/5162/tb), retrieved 2026-10-19 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children (次世代育成支援対策推進法), Article 1, paragraph (1) — the Ministry of Justice's English as printed (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/5162/tb), retrieved 2026-10-19 - This site's parser, version 201 — 次世代育成支援対策推進法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-19