Data compiled by Japan's welfare ministry shows the proportion of male workers who took paternity leave in 2019 edged up from the previous year but still remained low.

The statistics shows the ratio of men taking childcare leave to the entire male workforce eligible for the benefit stood at 7.48 percent last October. That is up 1.32 percentage points from a year earlier, and is the highest on record.

But the figure is far lower than the 83 percent for women who took maternity leave. It is also lower than the government's goals for paternity leave acquisition rates-- 13 percent by this year, and 30 percent by 2025.

Welfare ministry officials say some companies are purported to have an atmosphere that compels male staff to feel reluctant to take child-rearing leave.

The officials add they will search for ways to allow men acquire paternity leave immediately after their babies are born, so that more of them will be able to acquire it when they want to.