Article

Why Do They Leave? The Counterplans to Continue Working
among Preschool Workers in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Moemi Matsuo and Misako Higashijima *Rehabilitation Sciences, Nishi Kyushu University, Kanzaki 842-8585, Japan* Correspondence: higashiji@nisikyu-u.ac.jp; Tel.: +81-80-5609-0223

Abstract: Three institutions predominantly care for preschool children in Japan: kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers. Recently, the turnover rates of preschool workers in these institutions have been high, and Japan has been facing a shortage of kindergarten teachers. The study aimed to provide concrete counterplans to reduce preschool workers’ turnover rate.
To determine the causes of turnover, we conducted a cross-sectional survey. We recruited preschool
workers from several kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers in Japanto fill out a survey regarding counterplans for employment. Of the 1002 surveys, 551 (541 women;
10 men) complete surveys were received (response rate: 55%). A total of 295 participants answeredthat they were unwilling to continue working for longer than five years and completed the questionnaires. The Jiro Kawakita method was used to categorize and analyze the four sections of thecounterplan questionnaires. The results showed that the main reasons for high turnover were overtime work, low salary, and difficult human relations. To solve these issues, the counterplan ideas
such as workshop ideas and conditions conducive to continuing working longer were related tohuman relations, work conditions, and mental health.
Keywords: mental health; preschool workers; turnover rate; well-being; willingness to continue
working
Citation: Matsuo, M.; Higashijima,
M. Why Do They Leave? TheCounterplans to Continue Working

1. Introduction

among Preschool Workers in Japan:

The three institutions that care for preschool children in Japan are kindergartens (3–5 years old), authorized childcare institutions (from birth to 5 years old), and nursery centers (from birth to 5 years old). According to the Cabinet Office of Japan, kindergarten isdefined as a preschool that offers education-based playing and singing, practical activities
such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school; it isan ambulatory institution that cares for babies and toddlers whose guardians are working. An authorized childcare institution is a center that has both kindergarten and nursery
center functions. Recently, the turnover rates of preschool workers in these institutions
have been high [1,2]. The importance of reducing the turnover rate among preschool
workers is increasing in developed countries, including those in East Asia [3], and Japan
has been facing a shortage of kindergarten teachers. These workforce changes have resulted in insufficient childcare in these institutions [4].
Researchers have attempted to solve this problem by identifying individual and environmental factors that correlate with preschool workers’ willingness to continue working. In particular, a previous study found that sex, age, mental health, social support, andwork engagement were associated with teachers’ willingness to continue working [4]. Another study suggested that age, family environment, work responsibilities, mental health,and work engagement were significantly associated with the willingness to continue
working. Accordingly, welfare benefits and individual support systems can be key elements in encouraging teachers to continue working and improve their job satisfaction,

A Cross-Sectional Survey. Children
2023, 10, 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/
children10010032
Academic Editor: Edmond P.
Bowers
Received: 1 December 2022
Revised: 21 December 2022
Accepted: 22 December 2022
Published: 24 December 2022

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms andconditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution

(CC

BY)

license(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Children 2023, 10, 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010032

www.mdpi.com/journal/children

Children 2023, 10, 32

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mental health, and wellbeing. In addition, balanced work conditions and workers’ highagreement with workplace childcare/education policies may reduce turnover [5].
Although earlier studies have provided suggestions for reducing the turnover rate,
more concrete counterplans should be investigated to implement them. Thus, the main
objective of this study was to determine the reasons preschool/nursery center/kindergarten teachers and workers leave employment and to provide concrete counterplans to reduce the turnover rate in these occupations. It aimed to find counterplans to reduce preschool workers’ turnover rate and contribute to the social issues in Japan.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. ParticipantsThis study recruited 1002 preschool workers in Japan as its potential participants. Of
them, 451 participants either did not fully answer the questionnaires or did not returnthem. Thus, 551 complete surveys were received (response rate: 55%). Finally, of the 551
potential participants, 295 answered that they were unwilling to continue working for
longer than five years and completed the questionnaires.
Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the study. The study
was approved by the Ethics Committee of Nishi Kyushu University (approval No.
21VDV15) and complied with the Declaration of Helsinki [6].
2.2. Procedure
The study was conducted in 2018 as a cross-sectional survey. We recruited participants from kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers in representative cities in Japan. We included only full-time teachers and individuals working in
non-managerial positions to ensure that part-time workers with fixed-term contracts andmanagers would not affect the results. The study questionnaires took approximately ten
minutes for participants to complete. All participants provided written informed consent
in their workplaces and completed the survey about counterplans that could reduce theturnover rate. All questionnaire responses were self-reported and anonymous, and participants returned the completed questionnaires in sealed envelopes.
2.3. Measures
First, the participants were asked to choose the reasons for their unwillingness tocontinue working for longer than five years. Second, they were asked about their motivations for leaving and counterplan ideas. The counterplans questionnaire comprised four
sections: reasons for considering leaving employment, contents of overtime work, necessary workshops to solve work problems, and ideas for continuing to work longer. These
questions were all answered descriptively.
2.4. Data Analysis
All the data collected in this study were descriptive data. Thus, data categorization
was required to calculate the result. To this end, four sections of the counterplans questionnaire described in the Measures section (above) were categorized using the Jiro Kawakita method (KJ method), also known as affinity diagramming [7]. The KJ method is
widely used in participatory learning as a means to collect and organize information. It
extracts and categorizes key words from the results of the questionnaire using text mining.

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3. Results
3.1. Willingness to Participate
The reasons for the unwillingness to continue working for longer than five years areshown in Table 1. The main factor was enormous overtime work, followed by low salaries
and difficult human relations. The results of the counterplans questionnaire are shown in
Tables 2–5. Table 2 presents the reasons for participants’ willingness to quit a job, withmost responses attributing “low salary” for it, followed by “too much overtime work/nopayment for overtime” and “human relations”. Table 3 describes the content of overtime
work at the workplace and at home. At the workplace, “preparation for events” received
the most responses, followed by “administrative work” and “extension of childcare/education”. Most participants chose “administrative work” for the content at home, followedby “preparation for events” and “making teaching materials.”
Table 1. Reasons for limiting willingness to continue employment to five years or less as a full-timepreschool worker.

n = 502n (%)
258 (51)
233 (46)
144 (29)
122 (24)

Reasons for Willingness to Leave Employment

Too much overtime work
Low salary
Human relations
Marriage
Differences in childcare/education policies between workplace and one100 (20)self
Difficulties in taking care of children’s guardians
90 (18)Pregnancy/giving birth
77 (15)
Difficulties in taking care of children
74 (15)
Unsatisfactory welfare benefits
57 (11)
Working time/day problems
54 (11)Inadequate levels of satisfaction at work
53 (11)Other reasons
52 (10)
Health problems
48 (10)
Family problems
39 (8)
Changing jobs
41 (8)The reasons with the highest percentages were “too much over time work”, followed by “low salary” and “human relations”.
Table 2. Categorized reasons for considering quitting a job as a full-time preschool worker.

No. Reasons for Possibly Quitting the Job
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Low salary
Too much overtime work/no payment for overtime
Too much workload
Human relations
Difficulties balancing family life and work
Too much take-out work
Relationships with directors/bosses/seniors
Work on holidays
Mental stress
Differences in childcare/education policies between workplace/others and oneself
Difficulties in taking care of children’s guardiansn = 344n (%)
70 (20)52 (15)51 (14)50 (15)49 (14)43 (13)37 (11)34 (10)31 (71)28 (8)
20 (6)

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12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

Framework of workplace
Working time/day problems
Health problems
Difficulties obtaining days off
Too much document work
Other reasons
Marriage
Power harassment
Difficulties in taking care of children
Inadequate levels of satisfaction at work
Lack of workers
Other challenges
Complaint for directors
Difficulties procuring childcare/education at work
No rest time
Contents of work
Pregnancy/giving birth
Weight of responsibility
Differences in concept of values with others
Unsatisfactory welfare benefits
Too many events at workplace
Not acknowledged by others
No confidence
No work engagement

20 (6)
19 (6)
19 (6)
18 (5)
16 (7)
16 (7)
13 (4)
13 (4)
12 (3)
11 (3)
11 (3)
11 (3)
10 (3)
9 (3)
9 (3)
9 (3)
8 (2)
7 (2)
7 (2)
6 (2)
6 (2)
5 (1)
5 (1)
5 (1)

The reasons with the highest percentages were “low salary”, followed by “too much overtime
work/no payment for overtime” and “human relation”.
Table 3. Categorized contents and context of OT work performed by participating preschool workers in the last 30 days.

Tasks Performed in OT WorkNo.

OT Work Done OT Work Donein the Last 30 Days

at Workplaceat Home(n = 633)

n (%)

n (%)

1

Preparation for events

263 (42)157 (25)

2

Administrative work

194 (31)419 (66)

3

Extension of childcare/education

122 (19)2 (0)4Preparation for childcare/education

113 (18)53 (8)

5

Meeting

42 (7)1 (0)6Preparation for educational tools/ teaching
37 (6)
materials

54 (9)

7

Making teaching materials

30 (5)

85 (13)

8

General work

25 (4)3 (0)9Taking care of guardians

24 (4)

010Cleaning/decluttering

24 (4)

0

11

Others17 (3)

9 (1)12Miscellaneous duties

16 (3)3 (0)13Attendance for events

14 (2)2 (0)14Workshop/research

10 (2)6 (1)Children 2023, 10, 32

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Set up environment

8 (1)

1 (0)

16

Over-thinking

7 (1)

6 (1)

17

Cultivation/education for juniors

5 (1)

1 (0)

18

Playing a piano

4 (1)

16 (3)

OT: overtime. The contents at workplace with the highest percentage were “preparation for events”,
followed by “administrative work”, and “extension of childcare/education.” The contents at homewith the highest percentage were “administrative work”, followed by “preparation for events”, and“making teaching materials”.

3.2. Workshop Idea Categories
The workshop ideas were divided into the following eight sections by types of ideas:“children’s guardians”, “taking care of children”, “understanding children”, “place toshare suffering”, “basic skills for work”, “mental health”, “the way of working”, and “others.” The ideas to solve job problems with the highest percentage were “the ways to takecare of/support children’s guardians”, followed by “the ways to take care of children requiring support” and “create places to share suffering and advisement” (Table 4). The
ideas regarding conditions conducive to continue working longer were divided into thefollowing 12 sections based on types of ideas: “employment conditions”, “workforce”,“workload”, “human relations”, “relationship with boss/seniors”, “work environment”,“welfare benefits”, “duty framework”, “taking care of children”, “taking care of children’s
guardians”, “mental health”, and “others.” The ideas with the highest percentages were“better salary”, followed by “more workers”, and “easier to have holidays/private time”(Table 5).
Table 4. Categorized workshop ideas to solve full-time preschool workers’ job problems.

Rank
Workshop Ideas for Proposed Solutions
No.
Guardians
1
The ways to take care of/support children’s guardians
15
Common understanding between guardians and childcare workers
24Workshop for children’s guardians
38
The ways to support parents and children
Taking care of children
2
The ways to take care of children requiring support
7
The ways to take care of children with developmental disorder
12
The ways to take care of children
19
Methods of activities for childcare
18
Case examination of children
21
Highly professional workshop
25
Contents of childcare/the ways of childcare
31
The ways to take care of children in the grey zone/undiagnosed
32
Methods of playing and hand playing
34
Practical workshop/experience-based workshop
Skill up40
Understanding children
29Group discussion
41
The ways to understand children
42
The ways to understand disability
43
Special needs of children
Place to share suffering3
Create places to share suffering and advisementn (%)
n = 479
41 (9)
18 (4)
11 (2)7 (1)
39 (8)
27 (6)
21 (4)
13 (3)
14 (3)
12 (3)
11 (2)
9 (2)
9 (2)
9 (2)
7 (1)
10 (2)
6 (1)
6 (1)
6 (1)
35 (7)

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Interaction with other kindergartens and workers working in different places
36
Interaction with coeval workers
37Interaction with childminders
Basic skills for work
8
Human relations
11
Communication methods
28
Methods of coaching freshers and juniors
47
Common sense/manners
Mental health
13
Refresh for workers’ mind
16
Resolution of stress for workers
17
Mental health for workers
20
Exercises/dance for workers
27
Psychology
30
Counseling45
The ways to think46
Relaxation
The ways of working
9Workshop for directors and bosses
14
Methods for efficient work
22
High quality workshop inside of kindergarten
23
The ways to work/work system
26
The ways of class governance33
How to work35
All-hands workshop
44
Cooperative framework
Others5
Workshop is burden
6
The problems cannot be solved with workshops
10
Others
39
Workshop is unnecessary
4

34 (7)9 (2)8 (2)26 (5)
23 (5)
10 (2)5 (1)
21 (4)
15 (3)
14 (3)
13 (3)
10 (2)
10 (2)6 (1)6 (1)26 (5)
18 (4)
12 (3)
11 (2)
10 (2)
9 (2)
9 (2)
6 (1)
30 (6)
29 (6)
24 (5)
7 (1)The numbers on the left indicate the ideas’ ascending ranking by n (%). The ideas were divided into
eight sections based on the types of ideas. The workshop ideas to solve job problems with the highest percentages were “the ways to take care of/support guardians”, followed by “the ways to takecare of children requiring support” and “create places to share suffering and advisement”.
Table 5. Categorized ideas of effective conditions for preschool workers to stay longer in the job.

No. Workshop Ideas to Solve Job Problems/Improve Conditions
Employment conditions
1
Better salary
3
Easier to have holidays/private time6
Overtime work is paid
10 Easier to have paid holidays
11 Can leave work on time
23 Two days’ holiday in a week
49 Have holidays on weekdays
50 Increase in paid holidays
58 Can have long vacationn = 716n (%)
310 (43)
83 (12)57 (8)
44 (6)
37 (5)
16 (2)
7 (1)
7 (1)
6 (1)

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7 of 1159 No work on days off
Workforce
2
More workers
18 More subsidiary/workers for miscellaneous duties
61 More full-time workers
Workload4
Less or simplification of administrative work/document work
5
Less take-out work
7
Less/simplification of kindergarten festivals
8Less/no overtime work
9
Less workload
12 Can do document work in work time
20 Effective and equal assigning tasks
34 Less workshops
38 Less/simplification of making materials/preparation of childcare
69 Can prepare for childcare in work time
Human relations
13 Good human relations
30 Atmosphere to enable advice seeking
32 Better communication with guardians/children/colleagues
41 A friendly workplace
42 Place to share suffering
45 Agreement among coworkers
54 Discussion between workers
56 Teamwork of workers
72 Common understanding of children between workers
Relationship with boss/seniors
25 Directors and boss understand the field
39 Good relationship with boss
44 Boss listens to opinions of workers
52 Evaluation and praise by directors and boss
57 No power harassment
65 Can tell opinions and discuss with not only juniors but also seniors
71 Boss listens to workers’ suffering and takes care of it
Work environment
14 Governance of duty hours
15 Readjustment of work framework/work contents
16 Readjustment of staffing standards
17 Can have break time
37 Less burden on the ones in charge
47 Good workplace atmosphere
51 Efficient work
60 Use of timecard
62 Digitalization/use artificial intelligence
67 Fun workplace
74 Management well
Welfare benefits
19 Can balance work with family life/marriage and giving birth

6 (1)
95 (13)26 (4)6 (1)
81 (11)76 (11)48 (7)
47 (7)
46 (6)
35 (5)
20 (3)
10 (1)9 (1)5 (1)32 (4)
13 (2)
12 (2)
9 (1)
9 (1)
8 (1)
7 (1)
7 (1)
5 (1)
15 (2)
9 (1)
8 (1)
7 (1)
7 (1)
6 (1)
5 (1)
32 (4)
29 (4)
28 (4)
27 (4)
9 (1)
8 (1)
7 (1)
6 (1)
6 (1)
6 (1)
5 (1)
26 (4)

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Better welfare (allowance of house/sustenance/commutation/mater19 (2)nal leave, etc.)
26 Better compensation package for workers
14 (2)
Duty framework
Abrogation of one person being in charge/Having multiple persons
17 (2)
22in charge
24 Have cooperative framework
16 (2)
40 Small class9 (1)63 Concert of policies/restructuring of workplace
6 (1)Taking care of children
29 Have specialists for special needs/visits by advisors
13 (2)
46 Acceptance of and environment for handicapped children
8 (1)66 Place and time to take care of guardians and children enough
6 (1)68 Skill-up/improvement of childcare quality
6 (1)70 Sufficient workshops
5 (1)73 Improvement of facility and environment for childcare
5 (1)Taking care of guardians
Check actual needs of childcare service (guardians’ days off/week12 (2)31
ends/extended childcare)
35 Better understanding of kindergarten policy by guardians
10 (1)
Understanding of expertness and evaluation by guardians and soci43
9 (1)
ety
48 Less taking care of guardians
8 (1)Place to make guardians understand about children (developmental
64
6 (1)disorders, etc.)
Mental health conditions
36 Good mental health
10 (1)
53 Counselor
7 (1)55 Work engagement
7 (1)Others27 Others
14 (2)
28 Improvement of the way to train up freshers
13 (2)
33 Advancement in social status of kindergarten teachers
12 (2)
21

The numbers on the left indicate the ideas’ ascending ranking by n (%). The ideas were divided into
12 sections based on the type of ideas. The ideas of effective conditions to continue working longer
with the highest percentages were “better salary”, followed by “more workers”, and “easier to have
holidays/private time”.

4. Discussion
This study investigated the reasons for unwillingness to continue working for longer
than five years to provide concrete ideas to reduce the turnover rate among preschool
teachers in kindergartens, authorized childcare institutions, and nursery centers. The primary factors for unwillingness to continue working for longer than five years were overtime work, followed by low salary and human relations, which were consistent with thefindings of previous research [5]. Additionally, the reasons for wanting to quit a job withthe highest percentages were low salary, followed by too much overtime work/no payment for overtime and human relations, which were similar to the factors for unwillingness to continue working for longer than five years [5]. Preparation for events was indicated as the content at workplace with the highest percentage of responses, followed byadministrative work and the extension of childcare/education. The contents at home withthe highest percentages were administrative work, followed by preparation for events andChildren 2023, 10, 32

9 of 11making teaching materials. These results indicate that workers may have high levels ofstress resulting from the need to work a lot, even in their private time, with low salaries
in workplaces with difficult human relations.
To solve these issues, we asked the participants about their counterplan ideas. The
results showed that the workshop ideas to solve job problems were related to “children’s
guardians”, “taking care of children”, “understanding children”, “place to share suffering”, “basic skills for work”, “mental health”, and “the way of working.” In addition, theideas of conditions most conducive to continue working longer were related to “employment conditions”, “workforce”, “workload”, “human relations”, “relationship withboss/seniors”, “work environment”, “welfare benefits”, “duty framework”, “taking careof children”, “taking care of children’s guardians”, and “mental conditions.”
Integrating these ideas, we found common keywords for solving the problems: human relations (with children’s guardians, children, boss, and colleagues, a place to sharesuffering), work conditions (salary, workforce, holidays, workload, and welfare benefits),
and mental health. As such, the focus should be on a reward system, welfare benefits fromthe government or workplace, work conditions, human relations, and mental health. Additionally, preschool workers need places to share their suffering and learn to care forchildren and their guardians.
First, an analysis of work conditions suggested that a supportive work environmentand better welfare benefits (e.g., flexible work options and paid maternal or paternal
leave) and home telecommuting allowed them to continue working [8,9]. Similarly, efforts
should be made to improve the conditions in both work-related and outside-work areas[10]. For example, Bhattacharya and Ramachandran reported that heavy workload-related pressures compel workers to leave work [11]; thus, supervisors should attempt tomaintain the right workload balance [12].
Second, in terms of human relations, some studies have reported that challenging
workplace relationships can lead to workplace stress across occupations and that providing counseling support for human relations can lead to better mental health [13–17]. Third,in terms of mental health, a survey indicated that a greater involvement in their work
might reduce workers’ stress and increase job satisfaction.
Finally, another study suggested that better government implementation of stressmanagement plans could benefit the workers’ psychosocial needs [18]. However, a randomized controlled trial found that nondirective social support focused on workers’ intrapsychic challenges was significantly associated with fewer health problems [19–22].
Furthermore, nondirective social support, which focuses on workers’ intrapsychic challenges, often improves positive health behavior, health outcomes, life satisfaction, selfesteem, hope, and optimism [20,21,23].
Hence, a better reward system (e.g., higher salary), welfare benefits (e.g., maternal
leave) from the government or workplace, work conditions (e.g., less overtime work), human relations (e.g., compliments from the boss), and mental health (e.g., places to sharesuffering) affect their willingness to continue working. This study also has certain limitations. In particular, we recruited participants from one prefecture in Japan; therefore, thefindings may not be generalizable across Japan or in other countries. Additionally, thestudy was limited in its ability to explore differences in responses across key demographic
categories such as gender, age, experience in the field, etc., which must be considered infuture research. Finally, future research should include participants from other prefectures and countries and attempt more specific questions suggested by the present research(e.g., letting the participants choose important workshop ideas from the given list). Despite these limitations, the findings provide meaningful new insights for addressing theshortage of preschool workers in childcare institutions.
5. Conclusions
The findings of this study suggest that the workshop ideas to solve job problems wererelated to children’s guardians, taking care of children, understanding children, place toChildren 2023, 10, 32

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share suffering, basic skills for work, mental health, and the way of working. In addition,
the ideas of conditions most conducive to continuing working longer were related to employment conditions, workforce, workload, human relations, relationship with boss/seniors, work environment, welfare benefits, duty framework, taking care of children, taking
care of children’s guardians, and mental conditions. As such, better reward systems, welfare benefits from the government or workplace, work conditions, human relations, andmental health can be key elements of counterplans to encourage preschool workers tocontinue working. In addition, these recommendations may assist in effectively addressing the high turnover rate among preschool workers in Japan.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.M. and M.H.; methodology, M.M.; software, M.M.;
validation, M.M., and M.H.; investigation, M.M.; resources, M.M.; data curation, M.M.; writing—original draft preparation, M.M.; writing—review and editing, M.H.; visualization, M.M.; supervision, M.H.; project administration, M.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published versionof the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Nishi
Kyushu University (approval No. 21VDV15) and complied with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to thestudy.
Data Availability Statement: The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are notpublicly available due to a lack of participants’ agreement to put the data in public but are available
from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to express their appreciation to the participants of thisstudy.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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