TOKYO: Japan’s Children and Families Agency has begun discussions on details of the planned program to make day care services available for all infants regardless of whether their parents are working or not, sources said.

Under the program, set to be fully launched as early as fiscal 2025, day care services will be available for a certain amount of time for all children aged 6 months to 2 years who do not attend nursery schools.

An expert panel will discuss details such as the maximum usage time, usage fees and subsidy rate for facilities participating in the program. An interim report on the outcome of discussions will be released by around December.

The program is aimed at addressing the issue of isolation of parents raising young children and fostering children’s growth through interactions with other kids.

Trials have already started in some areas. The agency aims to determine details of the program in fiscal 2025 and have more municipalities participate so that the program can be implemented nationwide from fiscal 2026.

In the trials, the maximum monthly usage time is capped at 10 hours, but some local government say this is insufficient. The upcoming discussions will examine whether to raise the limit while paying attention to a possible increase in workload for day care workers.

Facilities participating in the trials receive a subsidy of 850 yen per hour per child while charging parents 300 yen in usage fees. It will be discussed whether the amounts are large enough to allow sustainable operations of day care centers and whether cancellation fees should be introduced.

The agency also plans to create a guidebook containing useful information for facilities participating in the program, including points to consider when interacting with children.

Other issues to be discussed include whether to introduce home visit services for children requiring special care, such as suctioning and respirator management, who cannot easily go out.

JIJI Press