How Companies Regard the Declining Population of Children --On the Effectiveness of Corporate Child Care Support Programs--

Emiko Takeishi

Summary

Concern over the decline in children has heightened the recognition of society's role in child support. In December 1994， the government issued an "Angel Plan，" which aims to build a "society that supports child care." In particular， since the decline in children is accompanied by an increase in working women， one pillar of the "policies to support child care" aims to make work and family life compatible. High expectations are being put on the government's role in this including establishing child care centers， as well on the corporate sector. Companies are beginning to recognize the need to enhance child care support for employees.
Considering the large social role of companies， companies will play a major role in child care. However， the introduction of corporate child care programs， which will involve a substantial cost burden， cannot be discussed in the same context as publicly funded child care. Discussion of effective corporate child care programs should be based on the present awareness of companies.
We found that while laws mandating child care leave have laid a foundation for guaranteeing leave， the condition of other areas left to the discretion of companies are quite varied depending on the company， progress overall is not being made. While in principle both men and women should be responsible for child care， in practice women are primarily held responsible. Thus child care programs are regarded as an aspect of utilizing women's abilities， which unfortunately hinders progress in child care programs.
If companies are negatively impacted by the decline in children， they strongly need to circumvent this trend by actively promoting child care policies. But our survey showed that while many companies are concerned about securing adequate labor in the future， they view the decline in children as part of larger social changes transcending the company. In fact， many companies cited their limited ability to implement child care programs， and were strongly inclined to rely on the government to solve the problem.
Our survey suggests three possibilities in which companies might provide child care support:
1) to comply with minimum legal requirements based on a consensus that companies have a social responsibility of providing a certain level of child care. The child care leave law falls under this category.
2) as part of a personnel policy aimed at securing good employees.
3) if some or all of the cost of child care support is shifted to sources outside the company through subsidies and other means.
However， if the social obligation of companies is emphasized as in the first case， it would have the unintended effect of suppressing the employment of women by increasing the company's cost of hiring women. In the second case， while companies might provide child care support as part of a personnel policy， great disparities in the quality of chid care would emerge based on company size and occupational status. Thus leaving child care up to companies would likely result in something too unreliable to be considered an augmentation to social insurance. The third care requires a balancing of the benefits accrued to companies from introducing child care programs， and to society from companies doing so， while studying the most effective form of subsidy.
While a social consensus has been forming on society's role in supporting child care， a closer look at different quarters reveals discord and lack of coordination. As for the role of companies and other members of society in creating a "society that supports child care，" the discussion now needs to go beyond abstract ideals to concrete measures for providing effective support based on an analysis of present conditions.