Japanese Citizens' Naïve Beliefs Regarding the Responsibility for Child-rearing:

The Responsibility of Family and Society

Abstract

　　This study examined the naïve beliefs of Japanese citizens regarding the responsibility for raising children. An online survey of Japanese citizens over the age of 20 (n = 2,113) asked about their level of agreement with “family responsibility” and “societal responsibility” for childrearing. In addition, the relationships between these naïve beliefs were examined and consensus on the living necessities of preschool children was assessed using the What Children Need List (WCN). Results indicated that (a) people have a strong belief that child-rearing is the responsibility of the family, and this tendency is particularly strong among women and people with children, (b) there was a positive correlation between “family responsibility” and “societal responsibility” for child-rearing, (r = .49) and people recognize that both the family and society are responsible for child-rearing, (c) both “family responsibility” and “societal responsibility” were positively related to the number of agreed upon living necessities, and (d) agreement was highest among respondents who highly agreed both family and societal responsibility. Problems with attributing the responsibility of child-rearing to parents or families were discussed based on the results of this study.