[talk] Problems in bringing up the generations of children that represent the future of Japan

Haruo Shimada: Professor, Faculty of Economics, Keio University

Haruo Shimada graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Keio University in 1965. He earned an M.A. in Economics from the same university in 1967, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin in 1974. After holding posts as an assistant and an assistant professor in Keio University's Faculty of Economics, he became a professor in 1982. Since 2000, he has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. Mr. Shimada is an economist specializing in labor economics and economic policy and acts as a special policy advisor to the Cabinet Office. His many published works include Akarui Kouzou Kaikaku---Kousureba Shigoto Mo Seikatsu Mo Yokunaru (Happy Structural Revolution---How to Improve Your Job and Your Life), published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. He has two daughters and one grandchild.

Yuri Okina: Senior Researcher, Japan Research Institute

Yuri Okina graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Keio University in 1982, and obtained an M.A. in Business Administration from the graduate school of the same university in 1984. After graduating, she joined the Bank of Japan. In 1992, she became Assistant Chief Researcher in the Japan Research Institute's Research Division and was promoted to Senior Researcher in 2000. Between September 2001 and March 2002 she was a special guest professor at the Graduate School of Keio University. Her published works include Jouhou Kaiji To Nihon No Kinyu Shisutemu (Information Disclosure and the Japanese Financial System) and Kinyu No Miraigaku (Study on the Future of the Finance Business). She has a four-year-old son.

Yuko Kawamoto: Senior Expert, McKinsey & Company, Japan

Yuko Kawamoto holds a B.A. in Social Psychology from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo and an M.A. in Economics from Oxford University. Before joining McKinsey & Co.'s Japan office in 1988, she worked at the Bank of Tokyo (now Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi). From 1995 to 1999 she worked in Paris for McKinsey. Her major published works include Ginkou Shueki Kakumei (Revolution in Banking Profits). She is currently a member of the Finance Service Agency's Minister's Discussion Committee on the Future Vision of the Japanese Financial System and Administration in Japan and a member of the Infrastructure Development Council of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. She has two sons, aged 11 and eight.

Naoko Nemoto: Director, Financial Service Department, Standard & Poor's

Naoko Nemoto holds a B.A. from Waseda University's Faculty of Law and an MA in IL Economics from Chicago University. After graduating, she joined the Bank of Japan where she was engaged in finance industry research. She moved to Standard & Poor's in 1994 and as Director of the Financial Institute Group focuses on analyzing financial institutes in Japan and South Korea. She is co-author of Nihon No Kinyu Gyokai 2002 (Financial Industry in Japan 2002). She has two sons, aged 12 and eight.

According to the provision of the Child Welfare Law in Japan, public nursing services are provided for people who are unable to care adequately for their children. As a result of the high-growth period in 1960's and 1970's, the number of middle- and high-income households has increased in Japan and the types of nursing services demanded have diversified. The total number of services required has also increased as more and more women are participating in social activities. Today, the level of nursing services is insufficient to respond to these changes and demands.
This disparity between demand and supply is due to two reasons: the misallocation of public funds and the closed market of the nursing business. Public services should be provided for the low-income bracket at low price, while the high-income bracket should receive nursing services from the private sector according to need and at a fair, competitive fee. To achieve this, the government should allow private companies to enter the nursing service industry under the condition that they provide good quality service. Further exacerbating the situation, government officials who know nothing about the situation in the field of nursing authorize the providers who are engaged in the service.

Employment conditions represent another problem related to bringing up children in Japan. Japanese companies expect their employees to work long hours with short vacations and evaluate performance based on ambiguous factors, such as the impression they make on their boss and how long they spend in the office. This adds an extra level of stress to parents trying to raise a family. The evaluation system should be changed to focus on performance content.

In the future, the number of single income households will decline as the labor wage decreases. Accordingly, the number of dual income families will inevitably increase. To counterbalance this trend, Japan needs to establish social infrastructures and value systems in which not only both parents cooperate in bringing up their own children, but also local community residents participate in bringing up the generations of children that represent the future of Japan.