Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, plans to start an initiative to dispatch helpers free of charge from next year in order to reduce the burden on children under the age of 18 who are in charge of family care and housework, so-called "young carers".
In June, the Takasaki City Board of Education interviewed 25 junior high schools in the city to see if they knew the students who were young carers.
As a result, it was found that there are about 1 to 2 people in each school, and it is estimated that there will be 50 to 60 people in the city including high school students.
For this reason, Takasaki City plans to start an initiative to dispatch two private helpers to families with young carers in junior high school and high school for two hours a day, up to two days a week, free of charge from next year.
By doing household chores such as family care, sibling care, cleaning and cooking on behalf of children, the project cost for the next fiscal year is expected to be about 100 million yen.
According to Takasaki City, it is the first time for a local government to carry out such a business in Japan, and the Takasaki City Board of Education said, "If there is even one young carer, I would like to work with the idea of helping the child." I am.