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(2)Caregivers

The rate of children cared at nursery schools and kindergartens reached 50%.

Comparing the data of usual caregivers with that in the 3rd survey, the rate of "nurses, etc. at nursery schools" increased from 26.1% to 34.0%. With infants born in January, whom had the minimum age required to be admitted into kindergartens (the junior year) in the 4th survey, "Kindergarten teachers" made up 28.7% of usual caregivers. The rate of kindergarten teachers as usual caregivers made up 16.3% of all samples, and that of "nurses and kindergarten teachers" reached 50.3% (Table 1).

Table 1  Changes in the usual caregivers (multiple answers)
(Unit: %)
   Total Usual caregivers (multiple answers)
Mother Father Grandparent    Nurses
and kindergarten teachers		    Others
Maternal grandmother Maternal grandfather Paternal grandmother Paternal grandfather Kindergarten teachers Nurses, etc.   
Nurses, etc. at nursery schools Nursery mothers or baby sitters
Total of 3rd survey 100.0 93.0 44.9 26.1 14.6 5.6 12.1 5.1 ... ... 26.4 26.1 0.4 2.3
Total of 4th survey 100.0 91.8 44.3 24.1 13.4 5.4 11.0 4.8 50.3 16.3 34.2 34.0 0.3 1.8
  Born in January 100.0 91.8 44.5 23.4 13.2 5.4 10.5 4.5 64.9 28.7 36.4 36.3 0.2 1.8
Born in July 100.0 91.8 44.2 24.7 13.7 5.3 11.4 5.0 35.9 4.1 31.9 31.7 0.3 1.7
Notes:1)The figures are based on the total responses to the 3rd and 4th surveys (total replies: 40,616).
2)The total includes the number of samples with "unknown" concerning usual caregivers.


   The rate of children with their fathers or mothers as their major caregivers during the day decreased.

As for the major caregivers, who look after the children for the longest time during the weekdays, the rate of "mother/father" dropped from 71.2% in the 3rd survey to 57.6% in the 4th survey (Table 2).

Table 2  Changes in the major caregivers during the day
(Unit: %)
   4th survey
Total Mother/
Father		 Grandmother/
Grandfather		 Nurses, etc. Kindergarten teachers Others
3rd survey Total (100.0) 100.0 57.6 3.6 30.1 7.9 0.2
Mother/Father (71.2) 100.0 77.0 1.3 12.2 8.9 0.1
Grandmother/Grandfather (5.2) 100.0 12.5 46.4 28.8 11.4 0.2
Nurses, etc. (23.0) 100.0 8.4 1.1 85.9 3.9 0.1
Others (0.3) 100.0 13.6 8.7 24.3 27.2 26.2
Notes:1)The figures are based on the total responses to the 3rd and 4th surveys (total replies: 40,616).
2)The total includes the number of samples with "unknown" concerning caregivers.


   The rate of children born in January cared by their parents dropped below 50% only, as is the nursing pattern up to the 4th survey.

As for the major caregivers during the weekdays between the 1st and 4th survey periods, "parents only" made up 53.7%, "nurses, etc. since two years old or younger" made up 17.6%, "parents, and then nurses, etc. since three years old" made up 7.4%, and "parents, and then kindergarten teachers since three years old" made up 6.0%. These four major nursing patterns reached 84.8% of the total.

With children born in January, "parents, and then nurses, etc. since three years old" made up 8.9%, "parents, and then kindergarten teachers since three years old" made up 10.6%, leaving only 47.0% for "parents only" (Table 3).

Table 3  Major caregivers during the weekdays
between the 1st through the 4th survey periods (major nursing patterns)
(Unit: %)
   Total Born in January Born in July
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Parents only
  (Parents throughout the 1st to 4th surveys)		 53.7 47.0 60.4
Nurses, etc. since two years old or younger 17.6 17.9 17.3
Nurses, etc. since zero year old
  (Nurses, etc. throughout the 1st to 4th surveys)		 2.6 3.0 2.2
Parents, and then nurses, etc. since one year old
  (Parents in the 1st survey, nurses, etc. since the 2nd survey)		 9.4 9.5 9.3
Parents, and then nurses, etc. since two years old
  (Parents up to the 2nd survey, and nurses, etc. since the 3rd survey)		 5.6 5.4 5.8
Parents, and then nurses, etc. since three years old
  (Parents up to the 3rd survey, and nurses, etc. since the 4th survey)		 7.4 8.9 6.0
Parents, and then kindergarten teachers since three years old
  (Parents up to the 3rd survey, and kindergarten teachers since the 4th survey)		 6.0 10.6 1.5
Other nursing patterns 10.5 10.6 10.5
Notes:1)The figures are based on the total responses to the 1st through 4th surveys (total replies: 39,838).
2)The total includes the number of samples with "unknown" concerning caregivers.

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