● RAISING CHILDREN

If your pay goes down because you work shorter hours, employment insurance pays 10% of your wages

Childcare Short-Time Work Benefit (employment insurance) / Employment insurance (Hello Work)

Childcare Short-Time Work Benefit (employment insurance)Employment insuranceChild under age 2

In months of short-time work, 10% of wages is paid

For each month of short-time work10% of wagesWages plus the benefit up to ¥484,121 a month

Not paid in months when wages are ¥484,121 or more
Also not paid when the calculated amount is ¥2,562 or less

A program created in April 2025Kosodate Tokyo

When you shorten your scheduled working hours to raise a child under age 2 and your wages go down as a result, employment insurance pays 10% of each month's wages. This program was newly created in April 2025.

When you return from childcare leave and switch to shorter hours, your income goes down while daycare fees and living costs go up. The role of this benefit is to fill the drop after the Childcare Leave Benefit ends.

It covers people who started short-time work for the same child straight after childcare leave for which they received the Childcare Leave Benefit, or people who had 12 months with 11 or more days of paid work in the 2 years before starting short-time work. It is not paid when that month's wages are ¥484,121 or more, and when wages plus the benefit exceed ¥484,121, the payment is ¥484,121 minus the wages (amount for payment periods on or after August 1, 2026). It is not paid when the calculated amount is ¥2,562 or less.

As a rule you apply to Hello Work through your employer.

Nationality and residence status

The official page (checked in October 2026) sets no condition on nationality or residence status that we found. Eligibility follows the official conditions, not the language of this page; many programs require resident registration in the municipality.

Who is eligible

Employment insurance insured persons who work shorter scheduled hours to raise a child under age 2

Notes

Created April 1, 2025.Amount: wages paid in the payment month × 10% (when wages are 90% or less of the monthly wage at the start of short-time work).Over 90% and under 100%: an adjusted payment rate.Payment limit ¥484,121 (from payment periods on or after August 1, 2026; before that, ¥471,393).The payment limit is not a cap on the benefit. It is a threshold: if wages are this amount or more, nothing is paid, and if wages + the benefit exceed this amount, the payment is "¥484,121 − wages" (MHLW leaflet https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001728499.pdf ). Minimum amount ¥2,562 (from August 1, 2026; before that, ¥2,411). Nothing is paid unless the calculated amount exceeds this.Eligibility: (1) an insured person who works shorter weekly scheduled hours to raise a child under age 2, (2) who started childcare short-time work for the same child straight after childcare leave covered by the Childcare Leave Benefit,or who had 12 full months with 11 or more days that were the basis for wage payments (if none, 80 or more hours that were the basis for wage payments)in the 2 years before the start date of childcare short-time work.Monthly requirements: a month in which you were insured continuously from the first to the last day / a month with a period of work at shortened scheduled hours /a month in which you did not receive the Childcare Leave Benefit or Family Care Leave Benefit continuously from the first to the last day /a month in which you were not eligible for the Continued Employment Benefit for the Elderly.

Official sources

Open the official page (Japanese)Open the related PDF (Japanese)

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