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Local governments struggling to secure childcare workers

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and the BIGGEST sacrifice the women will make is to pass their whole career in a male-starved environment (basically) that leaves them with the extra challenge of finding a partner to settle and have kids of their own. Of course some -or perhaps even most- should have a decent network of peers or family, none the less it is a professional hazard in my opinion

0 ( +0 / -0 )

i know the staff has alot of work and high energy demands on a daily basis ( plus weekends from time to time). Honestly though, the time with the kids is greatly reduced by change time, pee time, play time (outside), and what remains is story time and piano/singing time. What i mean is that actual group -teacher centred time is comparatively low, and caregivers get to roam around and enjoy their job at times. So they are judged as a professional group to not 'deserve' such enormous pay. I disagree, but what can ya do? Also the laundering of employment is an issue...a big issue, and i hate it ( organised C )

They do have to get up super early in the morning to make it to the nursery...like 5 am?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good childcare workers are worth their weight in gold. I would happily pay more for my children’s care if it were to support higher salaries for the teachers. I am extremely grateful for everything they do for our family.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@John-San - Do the hustle: Japan likes to boast it is a rich country. But achieving affordable daycare by not putting in the money is false logic. America likes to boast it is a richest and the best country. But to achieving affordable universal healthcare by not putting in the money is false logic. There a many countries that have both. Australia, UK, Germany and Cuba just to mention a few. So what is the problems. It citizen, It voters. The only way Japan and America can achieve these goals is kick out what is not working. Simple. In Australia we achieve these goals by kicking out those who do not perform to the standard they promise. We had 7 Prime Minister in 10 years. Before that the Prime Minister was there for over 10 years. Because he gave the people what he promise.

Comparisons are irrelevant!

Australia may very well have changed PMs regularly, but it is the same party stealing penalty rates and intend to raise the retirement age. Therefore, your comparison is totally void and false.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Pay them more, Let mothers who can also work there. It will reduce their own child's fees at the facility. It also allows mothers to optionally return to the workforce. It solves a lot of economic issues, but greedy companies got to start paying folks. It is ridiculous that a person with a university degree and years of experience getting paid the same as a 20 year old from a two year senmon gakko.

Also, get rid of all these middleman companies. They are the ones hurting the economy. Whenever we read about black companies and a lot of inefficiency, there is almost always a middleman company involved.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

PAY them MORE.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Do the hustle: Japan likes to boast it is a rich country. But achieving affordable daycare by not putting in the money is false logic. America likes to boast it is a richest and the best country. But to achieving affordable universal healthcare by not putting in the money is false logic. There a many countries that have both. Australia, UK, Germany and Cuba just to mention a few. So what is the problems. It citizen, It voters. The only way Japan and America can achieve these goals is kick out what is not working. Simple. In Australia we achieve these goals by kicking out those who do not perform to the standard they promise. We had 7 Prime Minister in 10 years. Before that the Prime Minister was there for over 10 years. Because he gave the people what he promise.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

So, where is Abe’s promise of fixing the daycare crisis? Oh, that’s right, he postponed it (again) to 2020. It’s very clear the reason they cannot get staff is because people are chasing higher paying jobs. I sincerely doubt if Abe’s fix will include salary subsidies for childcare workers, which is the only way the problem can be solved. You cannot expect parents to pay extra for daycare. It’s already too expensive. Japan likes to boast its a rich country, but achieving this by being stingy and not spending it on infrastructure is false logic. Japan is a poor country with very little assistance for the majority of its people.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Charge parents more.

Pay parents who can't afford it more child benefit and tell them to raise their own babies.

Get someone to stand up in front of a TV camera and challenge the rural orthodoxy that its okay to work in a 900 yen an hour job while the government pays to look after your baby. As jcapan says, the fee parents pay is nominal.

Tell employers who can't get mothers of young children to work for them due to the above that they will have to pay more.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Folks the problems are MORE than just low pay & crappy conditions at day care centres, the THIRD problem is & it IS important

PEOPLE CANT AFFORD THE SERVICES, due to households earning crappy wages!

Creates the perfect storm!

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Just give the jobs to old people. Most have experience with children and grandchildren. It will prevent dementia, and the can pass on Japanese culture. Most don’t need so much money, just need something to do after retirement.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

The government is going to spend $4 billion in combat planes, yet there seems to be no yen at all to help with the childcare problem.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Create more full-time jobs with benefits for those that want them and of course offer far more generous pay. Then guess what--they'd have to turn people away. Charge parents more if necessary. We paid 35,000 yen/month for a public kodomoen in Kobe. The place was excellent, the teachers were fantastic, but here's the thing--we could have paid twice that, and certainly would have if we knew it was going to the people doing the actual work, as opposed to the operators who are opening up franchises like Mickey D's. Obviously, this was subsidized by the city according to each family's needs but the bottom line is not enough of the the combined revenue is making it into teachers' salaries.

You want enough talented staff? Show them the money. Anytime I hear wishy washy language like "emphasizing favorable labor conditions, such as short commuting distance and reasonable working hours" or "the prefectural government is prioritizing desired working conditions over full-time employment" I know they're not serious and we'll continue reading the same article year in and year out. Or, hell, just bring in immigrants or use robots, which seems to be the solution to the shortage of caregivers.

16 ( +16 / -0 )

The women and men that, well typically women, who enter into this field are for the most part, truly dedicated and love working with children. They spend literally 10's of thousands of dollars to get the required certifications and training, only to face working at a job that is underpaid and under appreciated.

It's a sad sign of any country that can't properly take care of it's future!

13 ( +13 / -0 )

Yep,low pay is the problem.

It is not the case that Japan is a poor nation.

Up the pay and the childcare fee and businesses won’t need to go out of business....

9 ( +10 / -1 )

They are overworked and here is the most important thing.

UNDERPAID! They are college educated and can barely make ¥200,000 a month. They are professionals who have to feed, clothe, bathe, and be a conplete caregiver to 20-30 at a time.

Also, put on shows and plays and keep parents happy.

For that amount of stress the pay don’t match.

15 ( +16 / -1 )

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