TOKYO, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- A great number of Japanese working parents with children in elementary school or younger have never used child-rearing support programs despite the country's active push, a labor organization survey has shown.

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, also known as RENGO, conducted a comprehensive survey in August to assess awareness and the practical utilization of Japan's work-life balance support systems among working parents aged from 20 to 59.

Working parents have benefited at varying levels from multiple work-life balance support systems that are in place, according to the survey results released Thursday.

Nearly 42 percent of respondents reported using childcare leave, which allows parents to take time off work to care for their children, typically until the child turns one year old, while some respondents reported using programs including reduced work hours, child nursing leave and postpartum paternity leave, but the percentages were relatively low.

However, nearly half of the respondents, at 47.8 percent, had not utilized any of these support systems, suggesting that many working parents in Japan still face challenges in achieving work-life balance.

For those who had not used such programs, the top reasons cited were the unavailability of a supportive workplace environment and concerns about income loss, the survey showed.

Significant gender disparities in the utilization of childcare support programs were also highlighted in the survey. Some 58.4 percent of men had not utilized any support systems such as childcare leave or shortened work hours, which is 21.2 percentage points higher than the 37.2-percent reading among female parents.

Women who utilized these systems identified challenges in their career advancement, such as the lack of accessible nurseries and after-school care options and insufficient support upon returning to work.

When asked about effective measures to be taken in line with the government's vision of a "dual-income, dual-care" lifestyle, respondents of the survey suggested that increasing childcare leave benefits and introducing flexible working hours would help.