- The following is content from the press release -
～The most common childrearing issue that respondents want to solve first is "Reduction of physical burden" at 651 TP6T. The key to promoting the use of childcare support measures that contribute to reducing the burden is to improve service accessibility through cost subsidies and the use of digital technology.
NTT Com Online Marketing Solutions Corporation (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Yoshie Tsukamoto) and NTT DATA Management Research Institute Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Shigeki Yamaguchi) jointly conducted the "Survey on Issues and Needs of Child-Rearing Parties and Child-Rearing Support Measures" (hereafter, the survey) among registered monitors of NTT.com Research. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Shigeki Yamaguchi, President) conducted the "Survey of Issues and Needs of Child-Rearing Support Measures" (hereafter "the Survey") among registered monitors of NTT Com Research.
Against the backdrop of the accelerating decline in Japan's birthrate, this study conducted a questionnaire survey of men and women in their 20s to 50s living in Japan regarding the challenges faced by child-rearing parties and the needs of child-rearing support measures, and found the following
[Main points
1. In solving the problems of child-rearing parties to address the declining birthrate, it is important to solve the following problems: "physical burden (fatigue) is too great," "housework is too much, and there is no time to spare," and "one has to watch one's children all the time and has no time to relax.
2. There is significant room to improve awareness and expand use of childcare-related services.
3. A certain level of willingness to use services was observed in various situations, such as "responding to sudden illness," "gathering information on services," and "putting procedures online.
4. The cost burden is a major factor hindering the intention to use childcare-related services, and expanding awareness is also an issue.
More details are available below.
https://research.nttcoms.com/database/data/002207/
Background
With the creation of the Administration for Children and Families to be established on April 1, 2023, efforts to realize a "Children First" society will accelerate, and at the same time, support for those involved in child-rearing is expected to become even more important. In recent years, in particular, changes in the social environment have resulted in a wide range of environments and circumstances for those involved in child-rearing. Therefore, this survey was conducted to investigate the issues faced by the parties involved in child-rearing and their needs for child-rearing support measures, and to identify child-rearing issues that need to be solved as a priority toward resolving the declining birthrate problem, as well as the needs for child-rearing support measures and measures to promote their use.
Main findings and considerations
1. In solving the problems of child-rearing parties to address the declining birthrate, it is important to solve the following problems: "physical burden (fatigue) is too great," "housework is too much, and there is no time to spare," and "one has to watch one's children all the time and has no time to relax.
A correlation analysis of the child-rearing issues that they want to solve first and the issues that they perceive as disincentives to having children revealed that there is a correlation between the two. The high percentage of respondents who wanted to be the first to solve the problems of "heavy physical burden (fatigue)," "heavy housework burden and lack of time," and "having to watch the children all the time and not having time to relax" indicated that these problems are important in terms of child rearing and are perceived as disincentives to having children, This indicates the importance of resolving the three aforementioned issues in child-rearing and, by extension, in addressing the declining birthrate (Figure 1). (Figure 1)
2. There is significant room for expanding awareness and use of childcare-related services.
In the survey on recognition and use of child-rearing services, the highest level of recognition was for "services to save time and reduce the burden of household chores such as cooking, laundry, and cleaning," followed by "services to solve vague concerns about child-rearing such as sharing and discussing child-rearing problems, exchanging information on child-rearing, and holding study groups. On the other hand, many respondents were unaware of the "service" that they "don't know" about. On the other hand, about half of the respondents answered that they "do not know" about many services, indicating that there is still much room to expand awareness of these services.
Regarding the use of these services, "Services to solve vague worries about childrearing, such as sharing and discussing worries about childrearing, exchanging information about childrearing, and holding study groups" had the highest percentage at 6.7%, followed by "Services to consult with doctors and specialists such as childcare workers about worries," "Temporary childcare and sick childcare services," and "Temporary childcare services such as temporary childcare, sick child The use of services such as "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," "temporary childcare services," and "temporary childcare services," etc. (Figure 2)
3. A certain level of willingness to use services was observed in various situations, such as "responding to sudden illness," "gathering information on services," and "putting procedures online.
Next, when those who had not used any services were asked about their intention to use each service, the highest intention was for "a service that allows a doctor to come to the home in case of sudden illness of a child," followed by "a service that combines all government and private services in one place from which information on services can be obtained and used (like a portal site)," and "a service that allows online management of administrative procedures related to children and various information related to maternal and child health care. (like a portal site)" and "a service that allows online management of administrative procedures related to children and various information related to maternal and child health care. As these services were all recognized by less than 501 TP6T (see survey detail 3-1 in PDF version), their use is expected to increase in the future as awareness of these services expands. (Figure 3)
4. Cost burden is a major factor hindering the intention to use childcare-related services. Expanding awareness is also an issue.
When surveyed on the reasons for "not wanting to use" childcare-related services, responses such as "high cost/seems expensive" were prominent in a high percentage of all services. (Figure 4)
In the "Other requests regarding childcare-related services and expectations of the government," the majority of respondents requested a reduction in the cost burden, indicating that the cost burden is one of the major disincentives for service use. In addition, the effectiveness of digitalization was confirmed as an opinion to improve service recognition. (Table 1)
Considering the above considerations and the current situation where there is much room for expanding service recognition (see 2 above), it can be said that cost subsidies and the improvement of service accessibility through the use of digital technology are effective measures to promote the use of childcare-related services.
<Opinions related to disincentive to use services
Conclusion.
As a result of this survey, physical burden (fatigue) was most frequently cited as an issue that needs to be resolved with regard to child-rearing. Many respondents also wanted to solve the problem of lack of time, such as the burden of housework and the tension of having to watch the children all the time.
On the other hand, the use of childcare-related services such as housekeeping and temporary childcare services, which are considered to alleviate these burdens, was poor, with the majority of respondents citing "cost issues" as the reason. The survey highlighted the situation where "even if they want to use the services, they are unable to do so" due to a lack of financial resources while being burdened both physically and mentally. Therefore, the most effective way to promote the use of services in the future would be to subsidize the cost. Some respondents also stated that the service itself is not widely known or utilized due to insufficient recognition of the service itself and lack of awareness of the service through other means, since the service is mainly provided through paper media. In the future, it will be necessary to consider the use of digital technology to increase accessibility to services, such as publicizing services on local government websites and building childcare-related portal sites. In particular, families that share household chores and families in which the parents are young digital natives showed high levels of service use and intention to use services, suggesting that cost subsidies and digital approaches may be effective. In addition, there are many who are concerned about the quality of the service and the security of personal information, etc. Therefore, it is believed that the government and local governments will promote the use of the service by ensuring the reliability of the service.
More than a majority of the respondents said that the aforementioned issues will be a disincentive to having new children in the future. Since the resolution of these issues itself will contribute to reducing the birthrate, it will be increasingly necessary to consider ways to resolve these issues, including the promotion of the use of services.
■Survey Summary
1. Survey target: NTT.com Research closed survey
2. Survey method: Closed internet questionnaire
3. Survey period: August 18, 2022 - August 25, 2022
4. Number of valid responses: 1,050
■Company Profile
Name: NTT Com Online Marketing Solutions, Inc.
Location: Osaki Center Building, 1-5-1 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032, Japan
Representative: Yoshie Tsukamoto, President and Representative Director
URL : https://www.nttcoms.com/
