1.	Objective To obtain the basic information for making, planning and implementing policies of the Ministry including countermeasures against declining birth rate, through observing continuously actual conditions and changes by years of babies born in the first year of 21st century.
2.	Scope The scope is the babies born in 2001 in Japan. The survey subjects are all babies born in the periods between January 10 and 17, 2001 and between July 10 and 17, 2001.
3.	Date of First Survey August 1, 2001 for babies born between January 10 and 17, 2001. February 1, 2002 for babies born between July 10 and 17, 2001. �@(The babies are 6 months old infants.)
4.	Contents of First Survey Guardian, household, employment (including child care leave), working hours, sharing in household chores and child rearing by parents, housing conditions, efforts and attempts in child rearing, advantages of having the baby, disadvantages of having the baby, worries and anxieties about child rearing, breastfeeding and income, etc.
5.	Method of First Survey Mailed questionnaires to selected subjects from the Vital Statistics Data (jinko dotai chosa shusseihyo).
6.	Collection of Questionnaires, etc. The number of questionnaires delivered and the number of responded are as follows: Collection of Questionnaires �@ Number of questionnaires delivered Number of questionnaires responded Rate of collection (%) Babies born in January 26,620 23,421 88.0 Babies born in July 26,955 23,589 87.5 Total 53,575 47,010 87.7
7.	Note a) The numbers indicated in the summary are rounded. Thus, the grand total may not be equal to the actual number. b) Symbols used in tables: "-" shows magnitude zero. "0.0" shows figure less than 0.05.