The Current Situation of Work and Income of Childcare Supporters

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the working environment of child and family support care workers, using data from a survey on their consciousness and their working hours. Little is known empirically about the actual conditions of care workers who support children and families. Therefore, we need to consider this situation in order to be able to improve their working environment.The results of the analysis were as follows :1. About half of care workers supporting children and families complain about low income.2. The ratio of paid for their work differ from work specification to work specification. Especially compared with other occupations, it is often difficult to pay for management work.3. Full―time care workers tend to be engaged in work specification of low ratio of paid for work.In conclusion, childcare support in contemporary Japan is characterized by large amount of management work. The further consideration on the ideal method for child care supporters’ income is needed.