Japan Press Weekly

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2014 May 28 - June 3 [WELFARE]

Deregulation of childcare licenses will affect children and careworkers

A government council on economic strategies is discussing setting up a simplified-version of the national certification of childcare workers. Parents are concerned that this will lead to more preventable mishaps in day nurseries and worse working conditions for childcare workers.

Currently, in order to obtain the certification, it is required to finish nationally recognized certificate childcare courses in colleges or professional schools or to pass a certification examination. Using a labor shortage in childcare facilities as a pretext, the Industrial Competitiveness Council proposed that persons with experience in raising their own children can be awarded a license as a practical caregiver after completing a three-month training course.

“Before going ahead with this deregulation, the government should put top priority on the safety of children,” Abe Kazumi living in Saitama Prefecture said. Abe, 35, lost her 1-year-old daughter in 2011 in an accident at a non-authorized day care center.

In 2013, 19 fatal accidents at childcare centers were reported across Japan. Of them, 15 occurred at non-authorized facilities which have less licensed staff per child than authorized ones.

Sasaki Kazuko of the National Union of Welfare and Childcare Workers warned that it is impossible for persons to obtain the expertise and knowledge needed to secure the safety of children after only enrolling in a three-month training program.

In the first place, the labor shortage in the childcare industry was caused not by the difficulties in getting the license, but by low wages. The average monthly wage of childcare workers is 90,000 yen less than the average of workers in all industries. As a result, 600,000 license holders are staying out of working as childcare workers.

“The Labor Ministry should allocate more money to provide higher wages and better working conditions to care workers, not try to attract unskilled workers by relaxing the licensing requirements,” Sasaki stressed.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko on April 14 at a House Audit Committee meeting pointed out that the relaxing of requirements for the childcare license will undermine the quality of nursery school services.

Past related article
> Use of unlicensed help will reduce quality of childcare services: JCP Tamura [April 9 & 15, 2014]