イクメン

=パパって　イクメン=

育児楽しむ男性　定時退社、朝食作り…
イケメンならぬ「イクメン」と呼ばれる男性が増えている. 仕事第一を返上し、育児に積極的なパパを指すイクメンは、職場で女性にモテるらしい. この秋には、東京で養成講座もスタートする. （北浦義弘） 「おんぶヒモで赤ちゃんを背負う姿を見たら、同級生は驚くでしょうね」. 堺市の会社員芝茂樹さん（３２）は笑う. 高校時代は硬派を自任し、女子からも「亭主関白になる」とみられていたという. 転機は２年前. 育児用品メーカーに転職し、それまでの激務から、定時退社が当たり前になった. １月に長女の小桃ちゃんが誕生すると、あまりのかわいらしさに「育児に参加しなければ損」と、育児書などを読みあさった. 今では午後７時半に帰宅し、小桃ちゃんを入浴させ、キッチンでお米をとぐ. 妻と娘の時間を増やすため、午前６時に起床し、朝食作りや洗濯を担当. 「本当に助かっています」と専業主婦の智美さん（３２）は絶賛する. この奮闘ぶりを「営業担当のイクメンブログ」と題して、ネット上で紹介. むずかられて首回りをうまく洗えなかった失敗談や、乳児とは思えない高いびきに「病気では」と気をもむ様子などが、赤裸々につづられている. 仕事と育児の優先順位は？　そんな質問にも、芝さんはすぐさま、「小桃が病気になったら、取引先に頭を下げて自宅に急行します」ときっぱり答えた. イクメンは「育児を楽しめる格好いい男」を意味する造語. 広告会社のコピーライターが名付け親だが、この会社で育児と仕事を両立させている男性社員らが集まり、２００７年４月、体験談などを発信するホームページ「イクメンクラブ」を開設すると、育児雑誌や育児関連サイト、女性誌などに広まった. イクメンへの女性たちの視線は熱い. １日約１０００件のアクセスがある芝さんのブログには、「カッコイー」「すごい」といった女性からのメッセージばかりが並ぶ. 次男の誕生後に育休を取得するなど、イクメンを名乗る東京都渋谷区の大手ＩＴ会社勤務、堀川佐渡さん（２８）の場合はこうだ. 妊娠中の妻の足裏を毎晩マッサージしていると社内で話したところ、同僚と後輩の女性２人から「離婚して私と結婚して」と同時に迫られたという. 「育休から復帰後、バレンタインデーのチョコが急増した」という例もある. これに注目したのが、育児に熱心な父親たちでつくるＮＰＯ法人「ファザーリング・ジャパン」（文京区）. イクメン養成が目的の講座「父親になることは、楽しい」を１０月から開講する. 絵本の読み聞かせや離乳食の作り方、産前・産後の妻との接し方から育児関連の法律知識まで、２か月間にわたって育児を楽しむ知恵を伝授する. では、イクメンは本当にモテるのか. 「優しい言葉の裏には女性たちのしたたかな戦略がある」と指摘するのは、「ワーク・ライフ・バランス」（仕事と生活の調和）に詳しい東レ経営研究所の渥美由喜さん（４１）. 「イクメンを応援すれば、働く女性に負担がかかる社会を変えることができる」と解説する. 渥美さんはこんな話もしてくれた. 「出産直後の一番大変な時期に育児に参加しないと、妻の愛情は夫から離れ、二度と戻らないケースが多い」 育児に無関心な父親のなれの果ては、家庭内孤立か熟年離婚ということか. ５歳の双子を抱える私にとっても他人事ではない. （2009年8月31日 読売新聞）

[[@http://job.yomiuri.co.jp/news/ne_09083104.htm|イクメン記事

]] =Paternal leave system falls short / Fear of income loss compels dads to use paid time off to rear kids= Mihoko Tsukino / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Despite being legally entitled to take child care leave, a number of male corporate employees are choosing to use paid holidays after childbirth to help spouses rear their newborns, apparently reflecting concern over a drop in family income. Some observers have suggested the current paternal-leave system might not sufficiently address the concerns of men interested in taking child-rearing leave. The revised Child-rearing and Nursing Care Leave Law is scheduled to come into effect this month. But the situation of these men, who end up taking "hidden child-rearing leave" in the form of paid time off, indicates the system does not reflect their concern about losing income. A 29-year-old employee of an information-related company in Tokyo took one week off in late April, when his second child was born, to care for his first child, 4, while his homemaker wife remained in the hospital. The man joined a child-rearing club and regards himself as an "ikumen," a nickname for fathers who actively participate in child care. But he chose to use paid holidays instead of child-rearing leave because his company's rules bar salary payment for child care leave when the wife is a full-time housewife. "I'd rather take paid holidays so I can receive my full salary. Though my child's birth was a special occasion, it's difficult for me to take unpaid leave," the man said. He naturally did not submit a child-rearing leave application to his company, and his week off was not considered child care leave for statistical purposes. "It's like I secretly took child-rearing leave. If I could, I would've taken child-rearing leave for about two months and help raise the rate of men who take such leave," he added. Another man, 37, who works for a publishing company, plans to take time off in autumn after his wife takes child-rearing leave for their baby, who will be born this month. He also will use his paid holidays to avoid a drastic income drop. "We have two incomes, but we don't want our overall income to decline," he said. Many men use paid holidays for child care purposes. According to an online-survey conducted in August by the Benesse Institute for Child Sciences and Parenting, only 4 percent of about 5,100 fathers of newborns to 6-year-old children said they had taken child-rearing leave. On the other hand, 57 percent said they used other forms of holidays for childbirth and child care, 70 percent of which was paid holidays. Naoki Atsumi, head of the Diversity & Work-life Balance Department at Toray Corp. Business Research Inc., reckons fathers who would otherwise take child care leave harbor a "deep-rooted aversion" to income cuts, although he said resistance to using such leave is dropping. "Against the backdrop of the stagnant rate of men who use formal child-rearing leave are those who increasingly use 'hidden child rearing leave,' which is actually their paid holidays," he said. For company employees who go unpaid during child-rearing leave, employment insurance helps a little bit. But the sum is limited to approximately half their wage, with a 6,990 yen daily ceiling. Additionally, company bonus payments are based on the actual time worked, and usually exclude the duration of child-rearing leave. Therefore, it is impossible to avoid an income decrease when using the leave. For this reason, men tend to use the child-rearing leave only for short periods. A Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry survey said that among men who took the leave in fiscal 2007, 54 percent spent less than a month away from their jobs. Along with the Child-rearing and Nursing Care Leave Law revision, the Employment Insurance Law was revised to strengthen income security during child-rearing leave. The child-rearing leave benefit, which had been partially withheld until the person's return to work, since April is now paid in a lump sum during the leave. However, Kazuya Ogura, an official of the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training, said the income security revision is not an ultimate solution for workers since the payment remains only 50 percent of wages. "Taking paid holidays is meant to rejuvenate workers, not to focus on household labor or child-rearing," said Ogura. "It doesn't make a difference whether men use paid holidays or child-rearing leave to participate in child care. But the status quo highlights whether the current system meets people's needs." (Jun. 13, 2010)

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