{"id":177461,"date":"2026-05-12T11:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T02:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=177461&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T02:49:37","slug":"kitakyushu-introduces-childcare-support-bonus","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/kitakyushu-introduces-childcare-support-bonus\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitakyushu Introduces Childcare Support Bonus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kitakyushu City will introduce a new bonus system to support employees who cover for colleagues on childcare or caregiving leave. The initiative, known as the \u201cthank you allowance,\u201d will begin this summer and aims to create a more supportive work environment. Staff who take on additional duties for colleagues absent for at least one month will be eligible for an increase of up to 8 percent in their performance bonus, averaging about 25,000 yen. The bonus will be shared if multiple employees divide the workload. Starting in winter, similar incentives of up to 6 percent will apply to those covering for staff absent due to illness. The city hopes the measure will encourage leave-taking while maintaining workplace balance. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ssl.city.kitakyushu.lg.jp\/files\/001199116.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Kitakyushu City<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_kitakyushu-city-child-care-support-bonus_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-177462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_kitakyushu-city-child-care-support-bonus_2026_WEB.jpeg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_kitakyushu-city-child-care-support-bonus_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_kitakyushu-city-child-care-support-bonus_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_kitakyushu-city-child-care-support-bonus_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto: Fukuoka Now (For image purposes only)<\/p>\n<p>Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &#038; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">free weekly newsletter<\/a> today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kitakyushu City will introduce a new bonus system to support employees who cover for colleagues on childcare or caregiving leave. The initiative&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":177462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-177461","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-kitakyushu","news-category-politics","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/177461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}