Over 47,700 children wait-listed for daycare centers nationwide

"Plans to open daycare facilities in some prefectures have been scrapped or delayed amid rising complaints from local residents that the noise from children would spoil the neighborhood tranquility and cause possible traffic safety problems in the area."

Same residents who are currently getting drunk on blue tarps and singing in the park outside my apartment, not to mention some of whom are illegally parked and blocking the road so I have to ride my bike in the oncoming traffic lane.

Klausdorth is right about priorities. Japan needs to stop giving billions away to other nations in the hopes that they MIGHT get some lucrative contracts in the future, and instead start realizing Japan won't HAVE a future if they don't take care of the children and the parents whom they demand have more. Residential areas and residents who complain about potential noise and disturbing the "wa" should not be allowed a pension, since it's the young who take care of the old and pay taxes for their continued existence. They don't want kids in the area or young people who would have them? Fine, let them start fending for themselves.

Educator60: Finding loopholes to avoid enforcing the law or obeying it is a cultural pastime. Then when there's someone to blame for something, you can always say you didn't technically break the law, or the wording was vague, etc. That goes from the top to the bottom of every facet of society.

So, how does this figure compare to five years ago? Is it up, down or the same? Why is this information not given?

Good Job Abe. Another Broken arrow.

I don't see how people complaining about the noise can stop someone from starting up a daycare. If it's not illegal, just do it! There certainly is no lack of demand for it!

The numbers could be allot higher than reported by The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. There is a strong political incentive to massage those figures down.

More than 50,000 'hidden kids' on day care waiting lists.....July 2016

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160723/p2a/00m/0na/005000c

Plans to open daycare facilities in some prefectures have been scrapped or delayed amid rising complaints from local residents that the noise from children would spoil the neighborhood tranquility and cause possible traffic safety problems in the area.

Nonsense. In anyplace in Japan you can open up just about any kind of business, shop, or residence, of any design or color, with almost nothing in the way of regulations to prevent it. If a developer wants to build a 20 floor condominium building 20cm from your property line, you are pretty much powerless to do anytime about it. This is why properties facing roads, waterways, and other public areas are pricy, and properties not faced by such pubic areas are cheaper. Citing complaints from neighbors is a poor excuse, the reality is that new public daycare centers are not affordable, the state is already buried under a mountain of public debt, with ever-shrinking revenue as the population declines, and with more and more older people collecting state pensions. In addition to this, the LDP wants to increase military spending. Daycare centers are not being built because there is no money to build them.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Hokuriku region—Ishikawa and five neighboring prefectures — do not have a single child awaiting nursery school admission.

With little in the way of industries or jobs in these places, with populations having fallen steeply, and significant numbers of empty homes, stores, factories, shops, and abandoned schools, it is no surprise that there are no children waiting to get into nursery schools.

Here in the MInato ward, you are not going to be able to get your kid into a pubic daycare. A higher percentage of applicants are accepted to Tokyo University than the public daycare centers around here, so private schools are the only option. And with these costing some 200,000 yen per month and up, it does not make economic sense for both parents to work, as any extra income would go almost entirely for daycare costs.

Wow! Good thing the birthrate continues to plummet! Just imagine how bad this problem would be if people were getting married and having children.....

I live next to a lady that cares for 4 children in addition to her own. No problems. With so many thousands of kids in need, I would have thought a tremendous cottage industry would have developed.

This probably explains why Japan's birth rate is declining every year. Seems that children are regarded as a burden by the society at large, and occupies one of the lowest priorities in the eyes of the government. If they are really serious about getting things right, I doubt the objections of the people can stop them from doing what needs to be done.

The arguments about this issue, as expressed here on JT several times over the past few years, disgust me. The problem doesn't exist in Canada, my home country, where daycares are private, licensed and inspected. They pay a decent wage for the caregivers, and parents are happy to pay (except in Quebec, where they expect the government to foot the bill). In the blink of an eye, I think I could permanently fix the problem in Japan. It's called s**t or get off the pot. Oops! I'll probably suffer the JT censor's wrath for that one.