Chance for Children

Chance for Children at a glance

About Chance for Children
Founded in 2011, Chance for Children (CFC) is committed to eliminating disparities in child education
caused by family income inequalities and to breaking the cycle of poverty for generations to come.

What we do
CFC provides the children (1st-12th grade) in poverty with Study Coupons redeemable at out-of school
educational facilities, such tutoring schools, arts & crafts, music, sports, and nature program providers. With
over 1700 educational facilities participating in this program throughout Japan, the children can have avariety of choices to fulfill their own interests and needs. To support children to help meet their full potential,
college student volunteers consult with the children on a regular bases. CFC relies on private philanthropy tofundraise for its Coupon program.

Areas we serve (as of September 2021)
1. Tohoku
2. Kansai
3. Tokyo
4. Wherever natural disasters occur in Japan, whenever possible.

© Chance for Children2

１. Organization History

Organization History

Lehman Brothers Crisis
2009• As a small project, Chance for Children started in 2009.
College students volunteered to collect street donations to
help children in need.
• Educational support for children receiving public assistancestarted in Kansai area (Central part of Japan).

Great East Japan Earthquake
2011• Chance for Children became an independent, non-profit
organization in 2011, and later became a charitablecorporation in 2014.
• Support for children in poverty started mainly in Tohoku
area (Northern part of Japan).

© Chance for Children42. Child Poverty in Japan

Child Poverty Rate

Child Poverty Rate in OECD Countries (2016)Children (0-17)

Total population%
35

Japan’s Child Poverty
Rate is 13.9%.

3025

higher than OECDaverage

20151050

Note: Data for India and China refer to 2011, for Brazil to 2013, for New Zealand to 2014, for Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey and South Africa to 2015, and for Chile to 2017

© Chance for Children

6Imagining from household financials

A household of single parent with two children
Sample of monthly spending for a family of three

Family of 3 in financial difficulties;

180,000 (after tax)

※Just a model for reference.

Item

Monthly income: ¥Estimate from “Basic Survey of People’s Lives (2019)”, Ministry of Health, Labour and WelfareAmountRent

100,000 yen

Food

40,000 yen

Utilities

10,000 yen

Communication (phone)

5,000 yen

Daily essentials

5,000 yen

Total

160,000 yenChild education fees (school lunch, supplies,
text book, after-school programs), saving,
medical expenses, travel, clothing, internet,and entertainment are not included.
© Chance for Children

7Gap in after-school educational opportunities
Educational Inequalities widen during “after-school” hours
Education Spending
for average middle-school
students (public school)

Annual household income and after-school
education spending (9th grade students)
351,870

Afterschool
education
63%

3 times
difference

Schooleducation
28%
133,590

255,390
237,450
214,170
192,210
169,830
148,230

Schoollunch
9%〜200¥ 306,491/year(¥25,000/month)

324,870319,050
288,330 292,830

200〜
300

300〜
400

400〜 500〜
500
600

600〜
700

700〜
800

800〜 900〜
1,000
900

1,000〜 1,200〜 1,500 〜
1,200 1,500

Family Income, including tax (million yen)
Source: “Investment/Study on the analysis of factors impacting children’s academic performance based on
2007 National Survey on academic performance/education activity (detailed survey)” from Ochanomizu
University.

© Chance for Children8Social Challenges

Chain of Poverty
Poverty(Adult)Advancement into College(comparison between welfare recipients and other household)
0%

20%

40%

60%

All households
全世帯

Disadvantage in
Choice ofOccupation(Youth)Chain ofPoverty

Households onwelfare

生活保護受給世帯

Educational
Inequality(Childhood)

80%

72.9%
36.0%

Just a half

出典：内閣府「平成30年度子供の貧困の状況と子供の貧困対策の実施状況」

Academic Performance & Family Income(comparison of 6 graders across annual income buckets)

Low in academic
Performance and lesslikely to advance intoHigher Education
Source: “Investment/Study on the analysis of factors impacting children’s academic performance based on 2007 National
Survey on academic performance/education activity (detailed survey)” from Ochanomizu University.

© Chance for Children

9COVID-19 Survey: Impact on Family Income (2021)
・・

90% of disadvantaged families has seen or will see their income decrease
due to COVID-19.
16% of families’ income was reduced over a half in 2020, compared to 2019.
Unchanged

15%

Likely todecrease

23%

COVID-19
Impact on Income
n=630

Changes in Income
2019-2020
n=630
AlreadyDecreased

66%
Unchanged
30% down
60% down
90%+ down© Chance for Children

10% down
40% down
70% down
Don’t know

20% down
50% down
80% down

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COVID-19 Survey: Impact on Learning (2021)

Q: How do you feel anxious about impact from COVID-19 in terms of yourchild’s learning or education (choose more than one if applicable)
n=630

Learning loss during school closure
Delay in entrance exam preparation
Learning much faster to cover the same curriculum
Nobody’s available to help child study

Loss of study habit
No study environment at home
Lack of equipment and internet access for online home learning

Getting busier, teachers can’t respond to child’s needs
OtherNo anxiety

Reference：Chance for Children, Survey on the disadvantaged Families Affected by COVID-19 (2021)© Chance for Children11

Voices of the families（2021）
Last year, my salary was slashed in half. For my son, it was difficult to stay
motivated, due to a long-lasting school closure. As a result, his grades have
kept going down.

After school opened, my child could not manage to attend classes, andeventually stopped going to school at all. Therefore, most of the 8th grade
learning is unfinished.
With our family income being reduced, we faced many hardships, and started
more quarrels. We got divorced, forcing our children go though difficult
experiences. They could not focus on study at times, and their academic
performance has declined.
My child has a learning disorder, which makes it hard for her to keep up on
study. In addition to that, during school closure, the school gave many writing
assignments that my child is not good at. Even after the school opened, they
tried to cover same curriculum in a shorter time. My child could not keep up
with the fast pace, and found out that school didn’t provide any
supplementary classes for needed students. Only way is to go to cramschools. We are at loss.
© Chance for Children

123. CFC’s answer to stop the chain of poverty

Study Vouchers
CFC provides Study Coupons to children (1-12th grade) in poverty.
Vouchers can be used for any educational activities outside of school.
② Study Coupons
Vouchers

Individuals,Corporations,Foundations andGovernment

Children in Need

④ ClassFees① Donations⑥ Reimbursement

Vouchers③ After-school
Activities

Vouchers⑤ Invoice

Educational Program Providers

Point 1 Unlike cash assistance, Coupons are limited the usage to educational programs.
Point 2 Children can choose from various programs, based on their interests or needs, including
tutoring schools, arts & crafts, music, sports and nature programs.
Point 3 The problem of stigma (social exclusion) can be reduced.

© Chance for Children

14Advisory Support for Children

Brothers & Sisters
 College Student Volunteers, aka Brothers & Sisters, periodically communicates with children via video orphone calls for support.
 As a role model close in age, Brothers & Sisters give children advice on their everyday lives, study, orfuture path and ensure that children use the coupons for their best interest.
Seek Advice for Study, Future
Path, Daily Lives and Voucher
Usage
Children
AdviceIn-Person Meetings© Chance for Children

Brothers &Sisters（CollegeStudents）

Phone Meetings

Training, Advice

ProfessionalAdvisors

College students sharing experienceswith CFC Staff Members

15

IT Support

For children who are in an insufficient IT environment,
we support internet access fees and rent tablets & routers.

© Chance for Children164. Contributions and Impact

2019-2020 ResultsYour contributions made it possible to support thechildren in need
# of Children Supported596

Study Coupon Valuein JPY# of Meetings bet. the Childrenand Brothers & Sisters

1.1mil

1752

Educational Facilities

Rental Devices# of Donations

1733

492769© Chance for Children

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2019-2020 Coupon Users■Breakdown

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA

AGE

FAMILY TYPE

HyogoOsaka
Iwate

1-6th

10-12th
Grade
23%

3%

3%

5%

Grade

Fukushima

23%

8%

Both

7-9th

Tokyo

Grade

26%

MiyagiParentSingle

53%s

Parent

49%

51%

54%

Miyagi
宮城県
Fukushima
福島県
兵庫県
Hyogo京都府
Kyoto© Chance for Children

Tokyo
東京都
Iwate
岩手県
大阪府
Osaka
他(青森･群馬･埼玉･岡山)
Others (Aomori, Gunma, Saitama, Okayama)

n=596

19

Contribution Impact 1

Message from the children (1)9th Grade,in Tokyo

It was around the end of school year (March) and I was 8th grade when the Covid-19
started in Japan. Soon after, my school closed temporarily. During the closure, I didsome school assignments and studied by myself. However, to be honest, I could not
figure out exactly how much and which areas I should study for the high-school
entrance exam preparation. Regrettably time went by. When school re-opened, I
found out that my friends have continued to study virtually with the cram school
they belong to during the school closure, and as a result, our academic levels widen
apart. I was worried that I would not make it to any high school.
I am very grateful for the Study Vouchers that I received from Chance for Children. I
quickly signed up for a sample class of a cram school that I wanted to join. In theclass, they taught me how to solve the problems that I could not answer by myself.
The school President explained about the entrance exam, and what I should do now
to prepare for it. All my experiences alleviated my worries and motivated me tostudy harder. With my sincere thanks for the opportunities that I am able to learn, I
would definitely succeed to enter a high school of my choice and become a person
who is capable of supporting others someday.

© Chance for Children

20

Contribution Impact 2

Message from the children (2)I am in 9th grade, and will take a high school entrance exam next year.
I am planning to use Chance for Children’s (CFC) Study Vouchers togo to a cram school for exam preparation.
9th Grade,in Tokyo© Chance for Children

The reason I applied to the Covid-19 Emergency Children Support
Fund at CFC was because the pandemic has affected my father’scompany and made it financially unstable with less revenue. Unable toafford, I was thinking of quitting my cram school that would help
improve my English, which is my weakest subject. Then I received theinformation about the Fund from my school, and I decided to apply.
Now as I am able to continue studying at a cram school, I should beable to put my best efforts into studying to enter my first-choice highschool next year.

212021 Project Update2021 Project Updates
In 2021, 850 children have received approx. ¥150 million
worth of Study Coupons in total. (as of July 2021)

Iwate Other
3%
Fukushima 3%
4%
Chiba
5%
Osaka
9%
Hyogo9%© Chance for Children

1-6th Grade10-12th Grade
10%
16%

Areas
n=850

Ages
n=850

Tokyo
27%

7-9th Grade
74%

23

Our value
Diverse learning Opportunities
for all children
We aim to create an inclusive society where allchildren are given diverse learning opportunities
despite the environment they’re born to or theirown characteristics to reach their full potential.

© Chance for Children

Our value
1

Eliminate educational gap among children (equality)2

Support children in decision-making (freedom)

3

Create an environment that embraces child’s diversity(inclusiveness)

24