Tokyo Plans To Provide Free Daycare To Increase Birth Rate

In an attempt to increase Japan’s low birth rate, the city governor of Tokyo has announced plans to make daycare free for all preschoolers beginning in September.

By extending a policy of free daycare for second-born and subsequent children to first-borns as well, the action seeks to lessen the financial strain on families. Low birth rates are an issue in many affluent nations, but in Japan, where the population has been dropping for years, the issue is especially severe.

When announcing the plan this week, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike stated, “Japan is facing the crisis of a declining number of children, which isn’t going away,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said as she announced the plan this week.

Echoing the prime minister’s and other officials’ concerns of an impending demographic crisis, she continued, “There is no time to spare” to solve the issue. According to Japanese media, the strategy is the first of its sort in Japan at the regional level.

Tokyo is home to 14 million people, making it one of the largest cities in the world. In Japan, working parents can now access public daycare, but the national government intends to expand access to all homes. As part of a national initiative to promote parenthood, Koike also stated earlier this month that she wanted to offer government employees in Tokyo the option of a four-day workweek.

With the second-oldest population in the world after Monaco, Japan is experiencing a growing labor shortage as a result of its comparatively stringent immigration laws. In July, Koike, a former minister and television host who has led Tokyo since 2016, was re-elected on promises to increase social welfare benefits while recognizing the difficulties that the city’s citizens face, including inflation.

By extending a policy of free daycare for second-born and subsequent children to first-borns as well, the action seeks to lessen the financial strain on families. Low birth rates are an issue in many affluent nations, but in Japan, where the population has been dropping for years, the issue is especially severe.

When announcing the plan this week, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike stated, “Japan is facing the crisis of a declining number of children, which isn’t going away,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said as she announced the plan this week.

Echoing the prime minister’s and other officials’ concerns of an impending demographic crisis, she continued, “There is no time to spare” to solve the issue. According to Japanese media, the strategy is the first of its sort in Japan at the regional level.

Tokyo is home to 14 million people, making it one of the largest cities in the world. In Japan, working parents can now access public daycare, but the national government intends to expand access to all homes. As part of a national initiative to promote parenthood, Koike also stated earlier this month that she wanted to offer government employees in Tokyo the option of a four-day workweek.

With the second-oldest population in the world after Monaco, Japan is experiencing a growing labor shortage as a result of its comparatively stringent immigration laws. In July, Koike, a former minister and television host who has led Tokyo since 2016, was re-elected on promises to increase social welfare benefits while recognizing the difficulties that the city’s citizens face, including inflation.