Lack of Childcare is Hurting Japanese Push to Put More Women to Work
- Number of kids on waiting lists jump 8 percent from last year
- Abe has vowed to cut childcare waiting lists to zero
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Waiting lists for daycare in Japan grew for the first time in five years, complicating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to offset a shrinking population by getting more women into the labor force.
Efforts to expand capacity at daycare centers have failed to keep pace with demand as more women remain in paid work after having children, according to the health ministry. There were 23,167 children on waiting lists as of April 1, up almost 8 percent from the previous year.