世論 What Japan Thinks

This is a very interesting survey from iShare, looking at the subject of children becoming independent from their parents and vice versa.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 6th of December 2010 1,088 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service with a child aged 15 years old or younger completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 80.1% of the sample were male, 43.6% in their thirties, 52.3% in their forties, and 4.1% in their fifties.

I don’t think I particularly hated going out with the parents when I was a child, nor do I remember any definite time in my schooldays where I felt I had broken away from them; however, I suspect my mother might have a completely different answer looking at it from her side!

Note that in Q3SQ, almost all Japanese schoolchildren (as far as I know!) take lunchboxes to school and are expected to have their mid-day meal in the classroom, whereas when I was a kid most people who were within walking distance of the school went home for lunch.

Research results

Q1: Do you usually go out as a family on days off? (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Often (to SQ)	55.6%	54.7%	59.3%
Sometimes (to SQ)	33.7%	34.4%	31.0%
Almost never	10.7%	10.9%	9.7%

About two-thirds of those in their thirties often go out together, but it drops to below 50% of those in their forties and fifties.

Q1SQ: Where do you often go out as a family to on days off? (Sample size=972, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=777	Female N=195
Shopping centre	87.2%	86.9%	88.7%
Large park	38.6%	37.1%	44.6%
Nearby park	38.6%	38.0%	41.0%
Parents’ home	37.2%	37.5%	36.4%
Department store	25.4%	25.6%	24.6%
Sea, mountains, river, other natural location	24.7%	25.5%	21.5%
Zoo	22.5%	23.4%	19.0%
Amusement park	21.1%	22.1%	16.9%
Hot springs	20.8%	21.4%	18.5%
Aquarium	17.6%	17.5%	17.9%
Other	7.3%	6.7%	9.7%

Q2: Which of the following places where you took your children did they seem to enjoy the most? If you have more than one, answer for the oldest one. (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Amusement park	24.4%	24.9%	22.2%
Sea, mountains, river, other natural location	15.5%	16.6%	11.1%
Large park	11.5%	11.0%	13.4%
Zoo	7.5%	8.1%	5.1%
Shopping centre	7.0%	7.0%	6.9%
Aquarium	7.0%	6.7%	8.3%
Hot springs	6.5%	6.2%	7.9%
Nearby park	5.4%	4.9%	7.4%
Overseas holiday	4.2%	4.1%	4.6%
Department store	0.8%	1.0%	0.0%
Other	6.7%	6.3%	8.3%
No particular place they seemed to enjoy	3.4%	3.1%	4.6%

Note that in Q1SQ there was “parents’ home” as an answer, but in Q2 it seems to have been replaced by “overseas holiday”.

Q3: Do you find long holidays for the children quite frankly a pain? (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Very much so (to SQ)	9.7%	6.4%	22.7%
A little (to SQ)	36.4%	33.5%	48.1%
No	54.0%	60.1%	29.2%

Q3SQ: What do you find is a pain? (Sample size=501, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=348	Female N=153
Have to prepare more meals	47.7%	31.9%	83.7%
Home gets noisy	44.9%	48.9%	35.9%
Have to take them with me when I go out	35.7%	35.3%	36.6%
Have less time for myself	34.9%	31.3%	43.1%
Home gets messy	34.1%	31.9%	39.2%
Have to help with homework, study	22.0%	20.7%	24.8%
Other children come round to play	12.4%	12.6%	11.8%
Clothes to wash increases	5.6%	5.7%	5.2%
Other	4.6%	4.9%	3.9%

Q4: Up to what age was your child joyful to be going out with their parents? If you have more than one, answer for the oldest one. (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Up to five years old	1.4%	1.6%	0.5%
Up to eight years old	8.8%	8.8%	8.8%
Up to eleven years old	41.4%	42.0%	38.9%
Up to fifteen years old	34.7%	34.1%	37.0%
Sixteen years old or older	13.8%	13.5%	14.8%

Q5: Did you ever get to an age when you hated going out with your parents? (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Yes (to SQ)	56.1%	59.4%	42.6%
No	43.9%	40.6%	57.4%

Q5SQ: At what age did you most hate going out with your parents? (Sample size=610)

	All	Male N=518	Female N=92
Up to five years old	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%
Between six and eight years old	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%
Between nine and eleven years old	3.3%	2.9%	5.4%
Between twelve and fifteen years old	48.4%	48.1%	50.0%
Sixteen years old or older	48.0%	48.6%	44.6%

Q6: Which do you think is/will be earlier, you growing away from your child or your child growing away from you? If you have more than one, answer for the oldest one. (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Definitely child growing away (to SQ1)	12.9%	13.4%	10.6%
Perhaps child growing away (to SQ1)	52.4%	50.3%	60.6%
Perhaps me growing away (to SQ2)	29.5%	30.8%	24.1%
Definitely me growing away (to SQ2)	5.2%	5.4%	4.6%

Q6SQ1: Why do you think your child growing away from you will be earlier? If you have more than one, answer for the oldest one. (Sample size=710, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=556	Female N=154
Child’s sense of independence, decision making power is developing	34.6%	37.4%	24.7%
Child is much more interested in friends, school activities, the outside world in general rather than the family unit	27.2%	27.3%	26.6%
Don’t have any confidence that I, spouse can grow away from my child	24.9%	22.1%	35.1%
Child hates interference from parents	21.7%	23.7%	14.3%
Child is not very clingy to parents	12.1%	12.2%	11.7%
Even when we ask our child to come out shopping, etc they don’t come	8.7%	8.8%	8.4%
Child doesn’t have much contact with parents within the home	1.0%	0.9%	1.3%
Other	8.3%	7.4%	11.7%

Q6SQ2: Why do you think you growing away from your child will be earlier? If you have more than one, answer for the oldest one. (Sample size=378, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=316	Female N=62
I, spouse are currently trying to grow away from our child	41.0%	40.5%	43.5%
Child is quite clingy to parents	23.3%	21.8%	30.6%
Child has a strong sense of dependence on parents	21.7%	20.9%	25.8%
Child’s sense of independence, decision making power is not developed	16.1%	16.5%	14.5%
Child asks to come along shopping, going out with parents	14.6%	15.2%	11.3%
Child is not really interested in friends, school activities, the outside world in general	6.3%	7.0%	3.2%
Other	6.3%	5.4%	11.3%

Q7: With which family member does your child talk the most? If you have more than one, answer for the oldest one. (Sample size=1,088)

	All	Male N=872	Female N=216
Mother	75.3%	74.7%	77.8%
Brothers, sisters	12.9%	13.9%	8.8%
Father	8.6%	8.7%	8.3%
Other	3.2%	2.8%	5.1%