Summer vacation is just around the corner. With many dual-income households struggling to prepare lunch for their children, the trend of providing lunch at after-school childcare clubs (after-school childcare) that look after elementary school children is spreading. However, many municipalities are hesitant to provide lunch due to concerns about food poisoning, and responses are divided. (Yamashita Masanori) ◆A sense of security that can be relied upon “The ’summer vacation barrier’ of preparing lunch while working is a common problem for people of my generation. I was really grateful,” said a woman (45) who works at a company in Minato Ward, Tokyo, and used the lunch service last summer. She and her self-employed husband work together, and are raising their eldest daughter, who is in the fourth grade of elementary school. In the past, when school was on long vacation, they would leave their child at after-school childcare in the morning and prepare a lunch box for her. Even on holidays, they had to spend time preparing side dishes for the lunch box. When they had to work long hours overtime or get sick and had to make their daughter a lunch box from a convenience store, they felt guilty. Since lunch service began, they have been using it in addition to the lunch box they make themselves. To use the service, you only need to apply to the after-school daycare center the day before, so “even if something unexpected happens, it gives you a sense of security that you can rely on them,” he recalls.
Since last summer, all of Minato Ward’s roughly 40 after-school daycare centers have been able to provide boxed lunches during the summer, winter, and spring holidays if you wish. This summer, they will be provided for 540 yen per meal. The ward is covering the cost of delivery from the boxed lunch company to the after-school daycare center.
Until then, parents who could not prepare their own lunches would volunteer to collect orders, or staff members who received payment from parents would go shopping for them.
The number of users, which was two-thirds last summer, is expected to increase to about 80% this summer. Tamagoya, a company in Ota Ward, Tokyo, which makes the boxed lunches, is said to be receiving a flood of inquiries from other municipalities about ordering for after-school daycare centers.
◆Yokohama City to conduct trial this summer
According to the Child and Family Agency, as of May last year, the number of children using after-school daycare centers nationwide was about 1.46 million.
During long holidays, dual-income households often leave their children in after-school care from the morning. There are calls from the Diet for action, as preparing lunch for such occasions is a burden on child-rearing. Continue reading↓ [Yomiuri Shimbun] 2024/7/10 (Wed) 16:15
>>1 After-school programs are run independently, so it’s fine, but there was a group of moms who were on fire even on holidays saying things like “Give us school lunches, Japan is over,” and they’re the ones who are finished lol They probably think that school is some kind of place where they can feed their kids at public expense or something.
>Minato Ward offers lunch boxes during the summer, winter, and spring holidays, 540 yen per meal, with the ward covering the delivery costs from the lunch box company to after-school care
>Yokohama City will offer lunch boxes for 400 yen per meal starting this summer, with the city covering the 3 yen delivery fee
It’s good to have women working more, but the “work” mentality is so strong that we’re left wondering what to do about children’s summer vacations. That’s why people tend to have values that mean they don’t want children. What should we do about policy?
I thought he’d be in the lower grades if he went to after-school care, but he’s in the fourth grade. He’s old enough to be okay if I leave him at home.
Confiscate the assets of single men over 40 who live as they please and only think about themselves as a single person tax and give them to poor families.
I’m a working mom who leaves all the childcare to daycare centers, schools, and after-school care, and all the cooking to the bento boxes, prepared foods, and frozen foods from supermarkets and convenience stores (lol).
>>33 I know an okonomiyaki restaurant that still charges 550 yen for meat and egg soba for lunch, which I think is a charity thing. As a single guy, I’d pay around 1500 yen for a non-alcoholic and squid tempura mix special.
In the end, society will be responsible for raising children. However, the national government will provide some funding and leave it entirely to local governments, so there are concerns about disparities.
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