世論 What Japan Thinks

One complaint I often hear from fellow foreigners in Japan is that the cost of having kids is expensive, if not prohibitive, although I often have a suspicion that those saying it have an axe to grind and are inflating costs, much like those Westerners who constantly complain about racist behaviour as if it were a daily occurance. However, perhaps another reason that foreigners find childbirth, or the prospect thereof, a scary prospect is that they are not aware of all the support that local governments provide to parents. With this in mind, perhaps some of my readers with young children will find this survey by goo Research into child medical fees and child-rearing support informative.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 9th of July 2007 1,989 members of goo Research’s online monitor pool with children of middle school or younger ages successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 51.4% of the sample was female, 28.6% in their twenties, 29.0% in their thirties, 25.4% in their forties, and 17.0% aged fifty or above.

The biggest help for new parents is a lump sum from the local government on the birth of a child, with the same amount being offered to all parents regardless of income levels, usually 400,000 yen, which is enough to cover most straightforward births. However, it is interesting to note that in Q2 and Q3 about one in six has not heard of and doesn’t plan to take advantage of this money.

My employer also pays a child support allowance, but the value of it barely covers the nappy bill, I would guess!

Research results

Q1: What are the ages of your children? (Sample size=1,989)

Up to three years old	37.2%
From three to kindergarten	18.6%
First or second year of elementary school	8.5%
Third or forth year of elementary school	8.7%
Fifth or sixth year of elementary school	10.5%
Middle school	16.6%

Note that the total number of children is not reported.

Q2: Which of the following public child-raising support facilities or systems do you know of? (Sample size=1,989, multiple answer)

Vaccination	88.3%
Child-care allowance	87.2%
Lump-sum birth allowance	85.8%
Infant health consulatation	83.9%
Child medical fee aid	79.1%
Public child consultation facilities	58.7%
Special childcare services (infant childcare, extended hour childcare, holiday childcare, etc)	57.0%
Emergency childcare hotline	50.0%
Elementary schoolchildren daytime baybysitting service	41.9%
None of the above	0.8%

Q3: Which of the above services have you used, or do you plan to use? (Sample size=1,989, multiple answer)

Vaccination	91.3%
Lump-sum birth allowance	86.4%
Infant health consulatation	84.2%
Child-care allowance	77.0%
Child medical fee aid	73.1%
Special childcare services (infant childcare, extended hour childcare, holiday childcare, etc)	16.7%
Emergency childcare hotline	11.5%
Elementary schoolchildren daytime baybysitting service	9.5%
Public child consultation facilities	7.9%
None of the above	0.5%

I’m not quite sure why more people have used vaccinations than were aware of them. Perhaps this reflects people either not aware of it as a public service until asked the question, and people realising that it might be a good idea to get their children innoculated after hearing about the availability.

Q4: How satisified are you with child health care fee support? (Sample size=1,752, those who have heard or who have had experience with financial support for child medical care)

Very satisfied	7.4%
Quite satisified	47.2%
A little dissatisfied (to SQ)	32.3%
Very dissatisfied (to SQ)	13.1%

Q4SQ: Why are you dissatisified with child health care fee support? (Sample size=795, multiple answer)

The upper age limit is low	63.7%
Program is worse than what other local governments offer	23.5%
The income limits on the system are strict	23.4%
There is aid for only part of the medical fees	14.6%
It’s difficult to understand how to apply or update details	12.0%
Other local governments only require some payment when applying	8.3%
There is aid for only part of the hospitalisation fees	3.0%
When using the child care fee support, the interaction with the hospital was poor	1.3%
Other	5.2%

Q5: How do you most effectively obtain information about child-rearing support? (Sample size=1,989)

From publications from local government	44.4%
From direct contact with local government	12.1%
From nearby friends with children	11.0%
From local government web page	8.0%
From parents at child’s school or nursery	7.4%
From family or relatives	6.2%
From child-rearing support web page	4.6%
From medical staff	3.8%
Other	2.5%

Q6: What expectations for the future do you have regarding child-rearing support? (Sample size=1,989, multiple answer)

Increased child allowance	52.7%
Lengthened period for child allowance	49.2%
Lengthened period for child medical fee support	42.5%
Application, widening of tax deductions	30.9
Pediatric care lengthened, expanded	29.7%
Assistance with discretional vaccination	29.4%
Direction from government, etc, regarding improving working environments	22.5%
Increased support for private nursery school care	20.5%
Expansion of nursery school places	20.4%
Easing of income restrictions on child support elegibility	19.0%
Establishment of short-term child-minding services	12.9%
Easing of income restrictions on child medical fee elegibility	11.4%
Relaxing of nursery school entry system	11.4%
Introduction into child-rearing community	9.4%
Expansion of child-rearing consultation	8.8%
Lengthening of daytime child-minding hours	8.7%
Enhancement of child abuse-related consultation, reporting system	8.4%
Expansion of provision of information during pregnancy	7.4%
Expansion of consultation services during pregnancy	7.1%
Increase in the details of child medical examinations	6.8%
Increase of the number of child medical examinations	6.7%
Introduction into local children’s community, cram schools	4.0%
Other	3.4%