Current Status of Various Childcare Support Projects

Project name	Contents	Actual status
Home-visit support	Visit to all families with infants	Visiting all families with infants within 4 months after childbirth to provide information on childcare support and identify childcare environment, etc.	1,496 municipalities (General Affairs Division, Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau (as of July 1, 2011))
Home-visiting childcare support services	Visiting families with children requiring childcare support to provide assistance and technical guidance, etc. on childcare/homework	1,005 municipalities (General Affairs Division, Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau (as of July 1, 2011))
Gathering places for parents and children	Community child care support centers	Promotion of community-based exchange of parents and children and provision of consultation/assistance, etc. on childcare, etc.	5,968 centers (FY2012 grant decision base)
Child center services	Providing group/individual guidance for children via playing, upbringing/guidance for after-school children, development of community-based activities such as Mothers' Clubs, etc., upbringing/guidance for older children, consultation for childcare families, etc.	4,318 centers (2,673 public centers and 1,645 private centers) (as of October 2011)
Day-care services	Temporary childcare (temporary day-care) services	Providing urgent/temporary day-care services in case of parent's sickness or for relieving physical and mental burden of childcare, etc.	7,656 facilities (FY2012 grant decision base)
Short-term admission for daily life assistance (short-stay) services	Providing day-care/protection services at facilities capable of providing appropriate protection, including foster homes, etc., in case of parents being unable to engage in childcare due to physical/mental/environmental reasons, including sickness and exhaustion, etc. (up to 7 days in principle)	672 facilities (FY2012 grant decision base)
Night-time nursing, etc. (twilight) services	Providing day-care services at facilities capable of providing appropriate protection, including foster homes, etc., in case of parents having difficulty taking care of their children for being absent on weekday evenings or on holidays due to occupational reasons, etc. Overnight stay is available.	363 facilities (FY2012 grant decision base)
Mutual-aid	Family support center services	Communication/adjustment services on mutual-aid activities between those willing to receive assistance such as day-care services (user members) and those willing to provide assistance (provider members)	699 centers (FY2012 grant decision base)

(Note) The figures for “Visit all families with a baby” and “Home-visit childcare support services” exclude the disaster-stricken areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake (Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures).

Current Status of Diverse Day-Care Measures

Project name	Contents	Actual status	Establishments in regions
Certified day-care centers	Facilities to provide day-care services for infants not receiving sufficient nursing care in place of parents working day time, etc. (open 11 hours, 8 day-care services hours, approx. 300 days, in principle)	Day-care centers: 23,711 Infant users: 2.18 million (as of April 1, 2012)	• 1.12 centers per elementary school district
Extension childcare businesses	Providing day-care services of over 11 open hours	16,946 centers (FY2011 actual)	• 71.5% of licensed day-care centers
Childcare businesses in holidays	Providing day-care services on Sundays and holidays, etc. (* implemented by day-care centers that are open throughout the year)	1,129 centers (FY2012 grant decision base)	• 4.8% of licensed day-care centers • 0.65 centers per municipality
Night time childcare businesses	Providing night time day-care services up to around 22:00 (* open hours of approx. 11 hours)	78 centers (as of April 1, 2012)	• 0.33% of licensed day-care centers • 0.04 centers per municipality
Specific childcare business	Providing day-care services for 2-3 days a week when guardians are unable to take care of their children due to part-time work, etc.	1,404 centers (FY2012 grant decision base)	• 5.9% of licensed day-care centers • 0.81 centers per municipality
Childcare businesses for children with disease and children after disease	Sick children in regions are temporarily taken care of by nurses, etc. in special rooms attached to hospitals/day-care centers, etc.	1,610 centers (FY2012 grant decision base)	• 1 center per 1,354 children using licensed day-care centers • 0.92 centers per municipality
Family-style day-care services	Providing day-care services for a small number of children mainly younger than 3 at residences, etc. of nursery teachers or family-style caregivers authorized by the mayors of municipalities via training in cooperation with day-care centers	Family-style caregivers: 1,249 Child users: 4,672 (FY2012 grant decision base)	• 0.72 family-style caregivers per municipality

(Note) Total number of municipalities is 1,742 (as of April 1, 2012). The number of public elementary schools, as used for determining elementary school district, is 21,240 (“FY2012 School Basic Survey”, MEXT).