In the first half of this year, the number of recipients of parental leave benefits exceeded 100,000, and the proportion of fathers taking parental leave was found to be close to 40%. On the 12th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor released the ‘Utilization of the Work-Family Balance Support System for the First Half of 2026’ containing such information. According to the Ministry of Labor, the number of recipients of parental leave benefits in the first half of this year was 103,983, an increase of 9.5% compared to the same period last year (94,993). Among these, there were 40,320 male beneficiaries, accounting for 38.8% of all beneficiaries. The proportion of men's parental leave is on the rise, exceeding the 30% range for the first time in 2024 and reaching 36.5% in the first half of last year. The Ministry of Labor analyzed that the '6+6 Parental Childcare Leave System' introduced in 2024, as well as the increase in childcare leave wages and the expansion of replacement manpower subsidies and work sharing subsidies to reduce manpower gaps in workplaces, have had an impact. The number of users of the four work-family balance support systems, including childcare leave, shortened working hours during the childcare period, prenatal and postnatal leave, and spouse maternity leave, is also increasing. The number of workers who used the four systems in the first half of this year was 190,000.