Japan Press Weekly

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2015 September 30 - October 6 [WELFARE]

Court: oldest child can go to daycare even while mother is on parental leave for 2nd child

The Saitama District Court on September 29 issued an order of suspension to Saitama’s Tokorozawa City government of its system of discharging children whose parents take childrearing leave for newborn babies from daycare centers.

The lawsuit filed by a mother seeking the reversal of the city decision to disallow her oldest child to continue going to the public daycare facility is still pending. Before the court gives a final ruling, it ordered the city authority to immediately stop excluding the child from the care service.

With this order, her 3-year-old daughter can go back to the daycare center.

The court pointed out that it is important for small children to make friends and learn social rules in group lives, and thus to expel them from nursery facilities will have a negative influence on the formation of their characters.

The court also mentioned that the city’s system to unilaterally dismiss children from public childcare centers without listening to parents’ claims may be constituted as illegal.

The counsel for the plaintiff evaluated the court order as reasonable and said that the city government should discuss with parents and citizens to remake the present irrational system to one supporting parents wanting to raise children in peace.

Past related article:
> Mothers in Tokorozawa sue city gov’t for discriminatory childcare policy regarding child-rearing leave　[June 26, 2015]