Poll: 89% want work conditions to cover fertility treatment
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About 90 percent of working women undergoing fertility treatment want changes in the work environment to ensure their desire to have babies does not derail their careers, a survey showed.
The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology conducted the online survey between September and December 2018, targeting women who were undergoing fertility treatment at 15 dedicated institutions across Japan. It received responses from 835 women, whose average age was 37.
Among the 807 respondents who were working, 89 percent of them said their fertility treatments were disrupting their careers.
About 70 percent of them cited each of two measures they wanted their employers to introduce: letting them work shorter hours or on flextime, and providing funding for the treatment.
Only about 20 percent said they wanted a temporary change in employment status, for example, becoming part-time workers instead of regular employees.
Japan has long been grappling with the issue of women having to give up their careers to raise children.
In the survey, 94 percent of the respondents said they prioritize their fertility treatment over their careers.
Fifty-five percent of the working women had not told their employers that they were undergoing fertility treatment, with about 60 percent of them saying, “There is no benefit from telling the employers.”
About 70 percent of the women who have told their employers about the treatment said, “They easily showed an understanding.”
Under fertility treatment, when to collect the woman’s eggs and the best timing for conception can be decided on a day-to-day basis based on their maturity. This makes it difficult for working women to commit to long-term schedules.
With treatment completed within a half-day, many women want to be allowed to take time off just for the treatment.
“It is important to create systems in which women can irregularly take half-days off several times a month, and create an environment in which they can easily tell about their treatment,” said Shigeo Akira, who chaired the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s subcommittee that conducted the survey.
Akira is also a professor at Nippon Medical School specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.
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