Full Take-Home Childcare Leave Lasts Only 28 Days

The short answer: on a 300,000 yen monthly salary, the benefit changes like this

Source: MHLW and Hello Work, "Childcare leave benefits: contents and application procedures" (revised 1 August 2026)[MHLW]. The comparison with take-home pay assumes about 237,000 yen in hand on a monthly salary of 300,000 yen

"Equivalent to 100% of take-home pay" means that because health insurance and employees' pension premiums are waived during childcare leave and the benefit carries no income tax and no employment insurance premium, a benefit of 80% comes out at roughly what you take home while working. The MHLW materials explain it the same way. It is not 100% of your gross pay.

Who qualifies: 14 days or more for you plus 14 days or more for your spouse (or an exception)

1. You take a total of 14 days or more of childcare leave (including postnatal paternity leave) for the same child within the covered period. For a father (a person who does not take postpartum leave) the covered period runs from the date of birth (or the expected date of birth, whichever is earlier) to the day after the eight weeks following the date of birth (or the expected date, whichever is later); for a mother (a person who takes postpartum leave) it runs from the same starting point to the day after 16 weeks. For the mother the first eight weeks after birth are postpartum leave, so in practice the covered period is the eight weeks that follow the end of postpartum leave.
2. Your spouse also takes a total of 14 days or more of childcare leave within the eight weeks from the child's birth. The rule is that each parent takes 14 days or more.
3. However, where circumstances prevent your spouse from taking leave, you meet the requirement on your own. There are nine such categories: the spouse is on postpartum leave on the day after the child's birth (so a father meets the requirement on this ground alone while the mother is on postpartum leave), there is no spouse (single parent), the spouse is not insured under employment insurance (self-employed, or a full-time homemaker), the spouse cannot take childcare leave because of a fixed-term contract or similar, the spouse cannot care for the child because of a disability or illness, the couple live apart because of domestic violence, and so on.
4. In the two years before the leave starts, 12 months or more with 11 or more days counted as the basis for wage payment (the same as for the childcare leave benefit).

The important point in exception 3 is that when a father takes leave during the period in which the mother is on postpartum leave, the mother taking childcare leave is not a requirement. During the eight weeks after birth the mother is on postpartum leave (covered by the maternity allowance) rather than childcare leave, so this falls under the "spouse is on postpartum leave" exception. Accordingly, a father who takes 14 days or more within the eight weeks after birth receives the 28 days of top-up regardless of how the mother arranges her leave. On the mother's side, she receives the top-up if she takes 14 days or more of childcare leave in the eight weeks following the end of postpartum leave and the father has taken 14 days or more within the eight weeks after birth (or an exception applies).

How a couple should time it: fit the father's 28 days into the eight weeks after birth

• The father's 28 days go inside the eight weeks after birth. Postnatal paternity leave (childbirth-time childcare leave) allows up to 28 days within those eight weeks, split into two blocks if you want. Take the full 28 days and you use up the top-up. Take only 14 and the top-up covers 14 days.
• The mother's 28 days start after postpartum leave ends. The postpartum leave period (covered by the maternity allowance) is not childcare leave, so the top-up applies to the first 28 days after postpartum leave ends and childcare leave begins.
• Staying off longer than 28 days does not increase the top-up. Even if a father takes 56 days within the eight weeks, the 13% attaches to 28 days. From day 29 it is 67%.
• There are caps. The cap on the daily wage is 16,540 yen, and the cap on the top-up is 60,205 yen for 28 days (reached at a monthly salary of around 500,000 yen). The cap on the childbirth-time childcare leave benefit is 310,290 yen for 28 days[MHLW].

Bracing for the drop from day 29: how much less in take-home terms

For a mother taking a full year of leave, the 28 days of top-up are a small slice of the whole, and most of the period runs at 67% and then 50%. Build the household budget on the impression of "100% of take-home pay" and things get tight six months in, when it has fallen to about 60% of take-home pay. The benefit is paid in a lump every two months, and the first payment can take around three months from the start of leave, so plan on bridging the first three months from savings. For the whole picture, see the money you can receive for childbirth and childcare.

If you move to shorter hours after returning, the childcare shorter-hours employment benefit (10% of the wage while on shorter hours) is then available until the child turns 2. Decide the length of leave and the timing of your return with that benefit in view as well, and the dip in take-home pay is shallower.

Applying: together with the leave benefit, through your employer

The childbirth-related leave support benefit is not something you apply for on its own. You apply for it at the same time as the childbirth-time childcare leave benefit or the childcare leave benefit. The application form your employer files with Hello Work has a section for it, and you attach documents confirming that your spouse took childcare leave (a copy of the spouse's application for leave, for instance), or documents confirming that an exception applies (a declaration that the spouse is not insured under employment insurance, a residence certificate, proof of single-parent status, and so on).

Benefits for postnatal paternity leave are claimed by the end of the month in which two months pass from the day after the eight weeks from birth (or from the day after you finish taking the 28 days). Staff in charge at a company may not yet be used to the new scheme, so saying "please apply for the childbirth-related leave support benefit at the same time" is a good way to make sure nothing is missed.

All of these benefits are tax-free, and the tax treatment during leave is covered in the year-end adjustment during maternity and childcare leave. A spouse on childcare leave has less income, so they may become eligible for the other spouse's spousal deduction.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

• If both parents each take at least 14 days of childcare leave, the first 28 days get a 13-point boost on top of the usual 67%, reaching 80%.
• Because it is tax-free and social insurance premiums are waived, 80% works out to roughly 100% of take-home pay. The rate drops to 67% from day 29 and 50% from day 181.
• On a ¥300,000 monthly salary, the first 28 days pay ¥224,000; after that, about ¥201,000 per 30 days; from day 181, ¥150,000.
• If the father takes 14 or more days within 8 weeks of the birth while the mother is on postpartum leave, the father alone satisfies the requirement.
• Apply through your employer at the same time as the childcare leave benefit application. Plan to cover the first 3 months with savings.

Reference links (sources)

This article is based on the materials below. The caps are revised every year on 1 August, so please check the latest amounts in the Hello Work materials.

• MHLW and Hello Work, Childcare leave benefits: contents and application procedures (revised 1 August 2026) (payment requirements, covered periods, the spouse exceptions and the caps for the childbirth-related leave support benefit)
• MHLW, The payment limits change from 1 August 2026 (the 60,205 yen cap on the childbirth-related leave support benefit and others)
• MHLW, Childbirth-related leave support benefit: quick eligibility check
• MHLW, About childcare leave benefits

Note: this article is general information. The amounts are estimates and vary with your wage and the health insurance you belong to. For an individual decision, check with Hello Work or your employer.