The government will revise negative terms related to marriage, childbirth, and childcare, such as 'parental leave', 'women with career interruptions', and 'miscarriage and stillbirth leave'. Terms used in the Labor Standards Act, such as 'annual leave', will be replaced with alternatives such as 'recharge leave' due to the perception that it requires permission to take time off.
On the 3rd, the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Commission announced that it has identified a total of 47 terms for revision, including 34 legal terms and 13 everyday terms. Of these, the Commission has prepared alternative terms for 32 and plans to conduct a nationwide online survey related to this within this month.
Examples of legal terms with proposed alternatives include ▲ parental leave → concentrated childcare period · focused childcare period · child care period ▲ annual leave → recharge leave ▲ menstrual leave → self-management leave · bodily rhythm leave ▲ infertility treatment leave → reproductive health leave · pregnancy preparation period · hope for childbirth leave ▲ miscarriage · stillbirth leave → recovery leave · emotional care leave · reproductive health recovery leave ▲ women with career interruptions → women with career retention · women transitioning careers · women in career-changing periods ▲ substitute labor → continuous workers · substitute support · cooperative personnel ▲ abortion → pregnancy termination ▲ illegitimate child → offspring · child ▲ premature infant → premature baby · preterm infant ▲ obstetrics and gynecology → women's medicine department · women's healthcare department.
Examples of alternatives for everyday terms include ▲ in-laws → family home · (couples' common) family home ▲ stroller → infant car · young child car ▲ husband · younger brother · young lady → name + suffix (Mr./Ms.) · younger sibling · uncle · aunt, etc. ▲ spouse · outside person → partner ▲ nursing room → baby lounge · young child care room ▲ childbirth encouragement payment → childcare support payment · family support payment · childbirth congratulatory payment.
The Low Birthrate and Aging Society Commission plans to finalize the target terms for revision and improvement in consultation with relevant ministries after conducting surveys and expert consultations and will submit them as a bill to the regular session of the National Assembly in September. A representative from the Commission noted, "For legal terms that require time to settle in, we will establish a phased implementation plan such as dual labeling of alternative terms, while prioritizing the expansion of social consensus for everyday terms."