Japan Press Weekly

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2016 January 13 - 19 [WELFARE]

Yamanashi Prefecture will provide free daycare services to families with two or more children

Yamanashi Governor Saito Hitoshi on January 13 at a press conference announced that the prefecture will begin a program providing free daycare services to second and subsequent children of families in the coming fiscal year starting April 1.

The program will be applied to families whose annual income does not exceed 6.4 million yen which will cover 80% of households with more than two children. About 3,200 children will be able to enter childcare centers without charge. The prefectural government estimated the cost of the program at roughly 720 million yen a year. It will provide 50% of the cost to municipalities within the prefecture.

The Japanese Communist Party repeatedly called for the implementation of this program in the prefectural assembly.

JCP assemblyperson Kogoshi Tomoko at an assembly meeting in June 2015 took up the issue that fees for childcare centers impose a heavy financial burden on many parents. She urged the governor to take measures to reduce the burden.