Some local governments in Japan let staff take children to work

TOKYO – More and more local governments in Japan are allowing employees who cannot find childcare facilities to take their children to the workplace so that they can work while watching over their children.

The aim is to secure good talent by helping employees achieve a balance between childcare and work. At the same time, such governments are seeking ways to prevent the system from affecting work operations.

To secure talent

On the morning of Aug 5, Mr Junya Sagawa, 35, who works at the Tokyo metropolitan government’s Bureau of Industrial and Labour Affairs, entered the office with his one-year-old daughter Aoi and sat down with a nervous expression.

His wife, who is on childcare leave, had to deal with an urgent issue. When they asked a local daycare facility to look after Aoi, they were told its temporary childcare service was fully booked. Since Mr Sagawa had a face-to-face meeting at work, he decided to take Aoi with him to the office.

Aoi was in a buggy and played with a stuffed toy next to Mr Sagawa as he concentrated on his work. To prevent his daughter from getting bored, Mr Sagawa sometimes held her and walked around the office. He was able to finish his planned work without trouble. “I am relieved that she has been quiet,” he said.

In April, the Tokyo metropolitan government allowed employees working in its Shinjuku main offices to take their children to the workplace if they were facing unavoidable circumstances. The system applies to children from infancy to age nine, the third grade of elementary school in Japan.

Mr Sagawa is one of three employees in the bureau who have used the system so far.

The purpose of the system is to retain excellent employees. According to the Tokyo government, the number of prospective university graduates taking employment examinations for clerical positions has dropped by half over the past five years, due to the country’s low birthrate and other reasons.

It fell from 3,838 in fiscal 2019 to 2,137 in fiscal year 2024. The metropolitan government’s human resources division says it will develop an environment to enable staff to balance childrearing and work in order to enhance competitiveness in employee recruitment.

Changes in the workplace

According to the metropolitan government and other sources, at least five municipalities across the country have systems allowing employees to take their children to work. The first municipality to introduce the system was Toyoake in Aichi prefecture. The municipal government fully introduced the system in May 2023 after a one-month trial period.

During the trial, when there were no conditions for its use, 23 employees tapped the system. When it was fully introduced, the municipal government set the condition that workers could use the system only when there was no other place to look after their children.

Following this, no one used the system for a while. The municipal government then took steps to promote the system and now one or two employees take their children to work each month, according to the government.

There have been changes in the workplace atmosphere too. The Toyoake municipal government polled its employees before starting the trial period and asked whether they would be able to accept children in the workplace.

While 34 per cent said yes, those who said no also accounted for 34 per cent. However, in a survey conducted after the trial period, 70 per cent of those who had users of the system around them answered yes.

The Toyoake municipal government said it introduced the system in order to develop a community friendly to child-rearing households. “Employees who bring their children to the workplace and also those around them gradually understand that the presence of children in the workplace does not affect work,” a senior government official said, showing expectations that more private companies will introduce a system of this kind.

Making rules

However, work at local governments can often require delicacy and sensitive matters.

The Takayama municipal government in Gifu prefecture, which introduced the system in January, asks employees to keep their children from accidentally seeing personal information on documents by working in places other than their offices, such as meeting rooms.

The municipal government also made rules such as prohibiting employees from asking colleagues to watch over their children.

In Tsukubamirai, Ibaraki prefecture, when employees take their children to work, the municipal government places a sign on the counter to announce that this is part of a government initiative, so that visitors are not confused.

Representative director Yuka Mitsuhata of a non-profit organisation, Kozure Style Suishin Kyogikai, which promotes a balance between child-rearing and social participation, said: “Having the option of bringing children to work in case of emergency allows parents and guardians to have a sense of security. If administrative institutions introduce the system, it will encourage private companies to follow suit.”

She added: “It is a prerequisite that employees should work seriously even though they are with their children. It is important to make rules so that employees will not regard the workplace as a daycare facility or bring their children without any consideration for the workplace or the children.”

Childcare at companies increasing

Private firms are increasingly setting up company-run daycare centres on their premises and elsewhere to look after the children of employees and help them balance work and family life.

The system was introduced in fiscal 2016 under the government’s company-led model.

If these daycare centres meet the government’s standards, the company will receive subsidies equivalent to 75 per cent of the daycare centre development costs.

Such daycare centres are unlicensed but are entitled to receive subsidies almost equivalent to those for licensed facilities.

The number of such care centres at companies was 871 in fiscal 2016 with a capacity for 20,284 children, but by fiscal 2022, the number had increased by about five times to 4,449 with a capacity for 105,393 children, according to the public interest incorporated foundation Jido Ikusei Kyokai.

All Nippon Airways Group opened a daycare centre at Haneda Airport in April 2018. It is available from 7am to 10pm, year-round.

“As the airport is always in operation, we have created a system that can accommodate a variety of work styles. Employees’ satisfaction levels are also very high,” an official of ANA said.
THE JAPAN NEWS/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK