Mayor Katsutoshi Onozuka was elected for the first time in the mayoral election over Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture’s “childcare leave system,” in which older children are forced to leave daycare centers when parents take childcare leave for their second child. (51) announced the abolition at his inauguration press conference on the 30th. The system, which has been in place since 2015, was unpopular with parents. Mayor Onozuka said, “Today is the first day that Tokorozawa City will transform into a city where it is easier to raise children.I want to do what I have said, that if the mayor changes, life will change.” (Hiroshi Nakazato)
◆”Considering ways to allow children who have been expelled to return”
Mayor Katsutoshi Onozuka declared at his inauguration press conference that he would abolish the childcare leave withdrawal system at Tokorozawa City Hall on the 30th.
Under the system, when parents take childcare leave to give birth to their second or subsequent child, the older child (under 3 years old) will be removed from the nursery school they were attending. In fiscal 2022, 105 people left the school.
Mayor Onozuka also said that starting from the 30th, children will not be forced to leave the nursery school, and that he will consider allowing children who have already been kicked out of the nursery against their will to be able to return to the nursery school if they wish. However, under the system, when a child left the nursery school on childcare leave, when the older child re-entered the nursery school and the younger child newly enrolled in the nursery school, points were added to the assessment of the need for childcare, making admission more advantageous. The mayor said the system will be “carefully implemented,” such as adding additional money to families whose children have already left the school.
◆“Children’s fun days are suddenly cut short.”
The abolition was welcomed by childcare workers in the city. The director of a private nursery school said she was happy, saying, “I’m glad that I was against the system.” Even at this nursery school, there have been cases of children leaving the nursery for childcare leave, and “Parents who have been discharged from the nursery are unable to sleep with their older child and nursing baby.Also, they are unable to take their 1-month-old child to the park with their older child.” “In the end, they end up spending most of their time at home.” She said, “For the children, their fun days with everyone at the nursery school are suddenly cut short.Children cannot understand the convenience of adults.”
Tokorozawa mayoral election on the 22ndKatsutoshi Onozuka, a new and independent member of the House of Representatives, was elected for the first time, defeating incumbent Masato Fujimoto, an independent who was aiming for a fourth term on the recommendation of both the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito. Immediately before the announcement, there was an uproar over a bill submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party at the prefectural assembly to revise the ordinance prohibiting child abuse, which would prohibit children from being allowed to go out alone. Onozuka’s election is believed to have been driven by the city’s childcare leave exit system, which attracted the attention of people with children, and which resulted in a turnout of 38.80%, an increase of 6.81 points from the previous election.
2023-10-30 10:18:56
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