Incidents at Childcare Facilities: Safety System to Protect Children Must Urgently Be Established

Editorial

14:59 JST, September 23, 2025

It is obvious that educational and childcare facilities such as nurseries and after-school children’s clubs should be places to which parents can entrust their children with peace of mind. Robust systems ensuring the safety of children must be established to prevent incidents.

The number of serious incidents resulting in death or serious injury to children at educational and childcare facilities nationwide exceeded 3,000 in 2024. This represents an increase of over 400 cases from the previous year and marks the ninth consecutive year of record highs since statistics began in 2015.

Educational and childcare facilities are required to report serious incidents to the central government. It is believed that the rules becoming more widely known at each facility is a factor behind the increased reporting.

While bone fractures account for about 80% of incidents, a 1-year-old boy died after choking on his lunch at a licensed nursery school in Sapporo. At an unlicensed nursery school in Kumamoto City, a 9-month-old girl died while asleep.

The shock and grief of parents who lost their children at childcare facilities must be immeasurable.

The central government has a database containing information on incidents. Local governments and childcare providers should strengthen efforts to reduce incidents, drawing on examples from other regions.

In a society where two-worker households have become the norm, the central government has focused on measures to reduce the number of children on waiting lists for licensed nursery schools and after-school children’s clubs. As a result, the number of children on waiting lists for licensed nursery schools reached a record low this year. The number of children on waiting list for after-school children’s clubs decreased for the first time in four years.

However, a shortage of childcare workers and support staff at after-school children’s clubs has been pointed out.

Many leave their jobs mid-career, citing issues like wages not matching the workload or the level of responsibility, making low staff retention a significant issue.

There are about 1.85 million people who hold childcare worker qualifications and are registered with prefectural governments, and about 60% of them are not currently working in childcare facilities. Similarly, few support staff are working at after-school children’s clubs as full-time workers.

Preventing incidents requires each child to receive careful, individual attention. For this, the presence of personnel with expert knowledge and experience is essential. Such experienced staff would also play a vital role in mentoring younger employees.

The central government must accelerate efforts, in collaboration with local governments and childcare providers, to support the return of retired childcare workers, among other measures. It also is hoped that the burden of administrative tasks and other miscellaneous work taken on by staff will be reduced so that they can spend more time interacting with children.

While the number of children on waiting lists is decreasing in urban areas, facilities struggling with under-enrollment and financial difficulties due to declining birth rates are on the rise, particularly in rural areas. The central and local governments should strive to maintain childcare services across the country.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 23, 2025)