Desperate Hunt for Day Care in Japan

[citzera]

By HIROKO TABUCHI
Published: February 26, 2013
TOKYO - Ayaka Okumura was barely pregnant when she began fretting over how she would hold on to the management job that would have been out of reach just a generation ago, when Japanese women were often relegated to dead-end “office lady” jobs pouring tea and greeting guests

Comments

[moldypotatochip]

I've lived and worked in Japan for five years. That being said, I don't have kids, so I've never had to deal with this firsthand

[katrinar]

two years is pretty much the standard in many european countries and Japan. unfortunately, the US is far behind on maternity leave. in canada, we get a year (which really isn't enough) and have similar problems unless the family lives in quebec (government subsidized daycare for all, $7 bucks a day, more moms in the working force generated 5 billion dollars over a decade).

my dear friend just came back from a stint in japan where because she was a mom when they went over, she just didn't work (though she could have). the daycare situation is tough enough but being a foreigner on top of that makes it damned near impossible.

we still live in an international society where in MANY cases (not all) women are forced not only to bear children, but take care of most chores, child rearing etc and then go back to work to support their families. it really sucks.

[belleweather]

Oh honey, please don't talk about how inadequate a year is. I would have KILLED for 6 WEEKS in my last pregnancy, not to mention the three months (unpaid) we get in the US, or a far more reasonable 6 months or a year.

In the US, there is plenty of care available, in that we're not hurting for spots, but the cost is $800-1500 per month, per kid in a middle-cost market. $800 will buy you about a full work-day of care from a private person in their home. A center or preschool with an educational curriculum and more oversight will cost more. Living on the coasts or in a big city? Cost more. I'd almost rather there were less spots available and more subsidies than to have real, quality childcare out of reach for financial reasons, if only because I'd feel less guilty.

(For what it's worth, my mister stays home with our three, because his income after taxes < daycare costs. We'll pay an enormous price for that once our kids are grown and he has to get back into the job market, but our choices were limited.)

[katrinar]

You can get part-time care in most cities in Canada for around 75-100 a day and full time care isn't much different. In my city, there are zero spots anywhere, and if you are lucky enough to find a spot, it is usually at a daycare that costs around 2000 per month, or more.

My husband had to quit his job, too. Is ended up working out better because he works shift now, and we found a babysitter part time (3 half days a week) for 50 per half day. Tis is affordable now because he is making enough money that we can afford it. When I go on my next mat leave, I'm hoping to work freelance on the side, because th Canadian government only pays 400a week for most women on leave(some less, never more). I rWork for one of the many organizations that don't top that up, so yeah, we get a year off, but it is usually only for a quarter of your salary.

[phililen3]

As if life wasn't hard enough for a woman...
Self-centered? That is the guy who won't help out his partner and is concerned with only himself...

[hola_meg_a_cola]

That's a very common mentality in Japan. Women are expected to be the backbone of the family in this country. Recently, more moms are working and dads are reluctantly giving in because there is no way they can pay for their children's education by themselves.

[9kinds]

If people are interested, there's a vlogger who recently posted about this whole process on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15fVKjJMry8

[darlahood]

This is really interesting! Thanks for sharing the link.

[the_physicist]

Written and deleted so much that I had typed, because I can't find the write words. I have too many feelings about this topic in general. -_-

[mutive]

Hmmm....amazing how familiar this all sounds...