Number of children on nursery waiting lists in Japan hits new low

Japan had 2,567 children on nursery waiting lists as of April 1, down 4.2% from a year before, marking a record low for the sixth straight year, a government survey showed Friday.
The figure, which marked the lowest level since records began in 1994, apparently reflects a decrease in the number of preschool children, stemming from the country’s low birth rate.
Meanwhile, waiting lists grew longer in some areas due to nursery teacher shortages and an influx of families with children following residential land development.
According to the Children and Families Agency, 1,524 local governments, or 87.5% of the total, had no children on nursery waiting lists.
About 60% of children on waiting lists were in the greater Tokyo area, the Kinki region or ordinance-designated and other major cities.
Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, had the largest number of children on waiting lists at 184, followed by Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, at 121 and Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, at 72.
By age group, 84.8% of children on waiting lists were 1 or 2 years old.
The combined capacity of nursery schools, including those set up with the involvement of companies, decreased about 9,000 to some 3,219,000 children.
The capacity was far bigger than the total number of applicants to nursery facilities, which stood at around 2,797,000. Some nursery schools suffer enrollment shortages, especially in depopulated areas.
In order to bring the number of children on nursery waiting lists to zero across the country, the central government supports local governments that need to expand nursery capacity. It is also trying to boost the number of nursery teachers by improving working conditions.
The central government is working to make nursery services open to all infants regardless of their parents’ employment status and add consultation and assistance functions to nursery schools, as part of efforts to utilize unused nursery capacity.