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Change Your Life! |
Japanese legislator begins maternity leave |
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News
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April 13, 2000
TOKYO, APR 12 (AP) - Member of Parliament Seiko Hashimoto on Wednesday became the first Japanese legislator to take maternity leave after giving birth to a baby girl.
The 252-member upper house of Parliament voted overwhelmingly last month to include childbirth in the list of acceptable reasons for missing legislative sessions after Hashimoto, 35, launched a campaign for the change last fall.
Women have rallied behind the cause of the former Olympic speed skater, who was elected in 1995.
Hashimoto delivered the baby girl, weighing 2,975 kilograms (6.54 pounds), at a Tokyo hospital early Wednesday, her office said. The girl had yet to be given a name. "Both mother and daughter are in good condition," said Kaori Moriyama, an aide to Hashimoto.
Hashimoto is the second member of the national legislature since the end of World War II to have a baby while in office. Tenkoko Matsutani, then a lower house member, gave birth in 1950.
Female legislators account for 17 percent of the seats in the upper house and 5 percent in the more powerful lower house. Women were granted the right to vote in December of 1945.
The 500-member lower house is still discussing whether to revise its bylaws on maternity leave.
Japan has slowly begun accepting the idea of women on the career track and laws banning discrimination in hiring and promotion have recently been enacted.
Employees in other government offices and private companies are normally granted up to 14 weeks of maternity leave, but many quit their jobs when they get married.
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