The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found that the number of children waiting for vacancies in after-school child care, such as those in dual-income households, has increased for the first time in three years, with more than 15,000 children nationwide.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, ``It seems that the number of users has gradually returned as measures against the new corona have progressed.''
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has summarized the usage status as of May this year for the "after school children's club", so-called "school childcare", which takes care of elementary school students such as dual-income families after school.
According to the survey, the number of children using these facilities was 1,392,158 nationwide, the highest number since 1998, when statistics began to be collected.
The number of facilities decreased by 242 from the previous year to 26,683.
On the other hand, 15,180 children were waiting for vacancies in after-school daycare, an increase of 1,764 from the previous year.
The number of waiting children had decreased for two consecutive years since the spread of the new corona infection, but this year it increased for the first time in three years.
Looking at the number of waiting children by prefecture, Tokyo had the highest number of 3,465, followed by Saitama with 1,554 and Chiba with 1,179.
Regarding the increase in the number of waiting children, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, ``Immediately after the spread of the new coronavirus, there was a decrease in the number of children due to an increase in working from home and refraining from using due to anxiety about infection, but due to the understanding of corona and progress in infection control, the number of children using the system has increased. I think people who do it are gradually coming back.”