ICU Needs Childcare Support Services

Natsumi IKOMA
CGS Steering Committee Member
ICU Senior Associate Professor

【The article below is the same as the article that appears in the fourteenth issue of the CGS Newsletter.】

　On January 29th, 2011, the Center for Gender Research and Social Sciences at Hitotsubashi University organized and held a workshop, "Childcare Support Services at Universities." Among the eighty diverse participants were a pregnant graduate student and several male faculty members rearing small children, and the room was filled with enthusiasm and a sense of urgency. Panelists from Tokyo Gakugei University, Tohoku University, Utsunomiya University, and Niigata University reported their respective experiences in setting up childcare support systems and the oor showered them with practical questions and commentary filled with respect and envy for those who have achieved so much in the face of resistance.
　Although CGS has emphasized the necessity for childcare support services at ICU since 2007, ICU has not been enthusiastic about introducing such a system because of the small size of the university and, consequently, the absence of continual demand. But the voices of those in urgent need are often not audible as they are too busy taking care of their children.Under such circumstances, it is encouraging that Hitotsubashi University has started to move forward. However, now that many universities are considering the introduction of childcare support, it is worrisome that ICU is falling behind. With the decreasing population of 18 year-olds, ICU needs to increase the number of mature students as well as students from abroad who may regard such support as a necessity. Future candidates for educational or administrative positions may also hope for a working environment with childcare support. Whether or not ICU has a childcare support system will greatly influence its competitive power and may decide its future. ICU can still appeal to society by setting up a unique system now, but it needs to act promptly.
　The governmental and institutional policies of post-war Japanese society pushed care work - for children, the elderly or the handicapped - upon households. This liberated workers and soldiers from the burden of care work and directed their societal contribution towards economic growth. Yet one simple fact has been forgotten, as Fumika Sato (Hitotsubashi University) pointed out at the workshop, "that there comes a time in every life that one must depend on others to live." Not only is the society unbalanced and male-centric, the problem itself has been rendered invisible.
　Recently, however, the economic crisis has given rise to a need for female labor power in society, and to secure it, many enterprises have started to support childcare. But for the most part, society remains male-centric with the male worker as the only model, and consequently, many female workers have ended up taking on care work on top of their jobs.
　According to an article in the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper on February 14th, 2011, a study by Cardiff University has revealed that the Japanese, among other nationalities, have an extremely low level of desire to have children, and that the burden of childcare is particularly strongly felt by Japanese women. For many women in Japan, it is too much of a burden to work as hard as their male colleagues and to answer for childcare singlehandedly at the same time, and this causes them to hesitate to have a child. Obviously, a childcare allowance is not a fundamental solution; financial support is not the only thing that is needed. The problem lies in the fact that most childcare work is imposed upon women, and that it is regarded as a personal problem rather than a public issue. In pre-modern Japan, with its large households and strong local networks, care for children and the elderly was generally shared amongst members of the community. However, in today's society where households have diminished to nuclear units and local networks have been lost, care issues are beyond the power of the individual, or the family unit. Therefore, the anachronistic male model needs to be replaced by a new model in which care work is supported by the whole society/community/enterprise. Otherwise, the future of our society is certainly bleak.
　Universities are supposed to be the conscience of society. In reality, however, they are male-centric and are based on the old model in which the paid work of male researchers is supported by the non-paid (or lower-paid) work of female staff. The same is true in the case of ICU where the ratio of male to female professors is 7:3. The fact that there is now an increasing number of universities considering the introduction of a childcare system is more than welcome, as it can lead to the improvement of the society as a whole. Incorporating, instead of excluding, childcare from workplaces or places of learning has educational signficance because it will demonstrate to students who are going to be the central force in society in the future that childcare is an important part of the society and is supported by the whole society. The current low birth rate is a huge problem for universities. As an effective countermeasure against the low birth rate, they should take immediate progressive action to improve their own environment and reduce the stress related to childcare. Considering the pedagogical importance implicit here, ICU should become a progressive model for others to follow.
　Though ICU church has a kindergarten, it does not function as a place for the children of full-time faculty or administrative sta. I would like the university to change this situation, and to consider the possibility of adding a childcare facility to the kindergarten. My proposition is as follows: 1) The kindergarten retains its program and organization, 2) a new childcare section is run by external professionals, 3) the childcare section guarantees enrollment for children of ICU students and sta, 4) those who enroll in the childcare section can attend the programs offered by the kindergarten. This would oer a wonderful alternative among existing childcare options. Political initiative to integrate kindergartens and childcare centers in Japan has been ineective so far, despite the number of parents who hope for childcare combined with early education. ICU kindergarten has developed a unique early education program and it should be utilized more.
　The establishment of a facility described above may take some time. In the meanwhile, we propose the introduction of the following small-scale childcare support services that may be more realistic and feasible for the ICU community.
　We would like the university to offer a quiet room with a few baby-beds, a sofa, water facility, a pot, and a microwave. A large room is not necessary, as, on sunny days, the huge campus itself can become a place to take care of the attending children. It is also important that a multi-purpose restroom with a diaper-changing facility be installed in every building on campus; such facilities should be as common as the care considerations for the handicapped and for minorities.
　Regarding the choice of service providers, it would be advisable for the university to enter into a contract with insured external childcare professionals or NPOs. Preferably, the university should offer support to reduce costs for student users. The quiet room would be for occasional not continuous use, and users should arrange the care themselves when they need to take their children to campus. For those who are using some kind of childcare system in the vicinity of their residence, this is the most practical way. The room itself can be used as a place for breast-feeding and diaper-changing as well. To maintain security, users should be registered beforehand. Following the example of Niigata University, students who have completed an external training course can register as assistant sitters. This would oer valuable work experience to those studying education or developmental psychology. Student sitters may also work as paid carers for older children (a system that is already in place at Niigata University). The cost for an NPO-care provider and a student sitter should be differentiated so that each user can choose according to their financial (and other) situation.
　This system would make childcare on campus more visible and enable students to participate in it. Further, it will be a meaningful experience for students to see childcare as an important and fundamental practice for every human being. It is certainly possible for a university as small as ICU to offer a unique childcare support system. We believe that such a progressive system would make ICU a model for other universities in Japan to emulate.

[Appendix]
　The following is a selective list of universities in the Kanto area and other regions that oer original childcare services. The number of these universities in Japan is growing every year and it is hoped that ICU will soon join their ranks. Some American liberal-arts colleges, similar to ICU in size, are also listed for comparison. (US information was collected by Samantha Landau.)

JAPANESE UNIVERSITIES

Japan Women's University: The university kindergarten has a childcare section for children of faculty, sta and students.

Keio University: A public childcare center at the Hiyoshi campus. It is open to external users as well, and operated by an external service provider (Benesse).

Musashino University: The university kindergarten offers additional childcare services.
Niigata University: The baby-sitting service utilizing student sitters is oered.

Sophia University: a private nursery for children of faculty, staff, and students, operated by an external service provider (Poppins Corporation). The university oers a subsidy to users.

Tokyo Gakugei University: A childcare facility at the Koganei campus, open to external users as well. It is operated by an external service provider (Success Academy), and fees vary according to status (full-time undergraduate/graduate students, part-time students, faculty and staff, local residents).

University of Tokyo: 2 private (for University faculty, staff, and students only) and 1 public (for external users as well) childcare centers in the Hongo area, and 1 private and 1 semi-public (for external users as well) childcare centers in the Komaba area. The Shirokane and Kashiwa campuses also have 1 private childcare center each. 5 private childcare centers are under direct management of the university, but operated by external service providers (Success Pro Sta and Poppins Corporation).

Utsunomiya University: A public childcare center, open to external users as well.

Waseda University: A semi-public childcare center open to external users as well, and operated by an external service provider (Poppins Corporation). Its program integrates childcare with early education.

US LIBERAL-ARTS COLLEGES

Allegheny College: A private childcare center on campus. The university provides the site for a fee.

Dartmouth College: An early education center for university staff. Fees are decided according to parents' income. The university web page has information on childcare support.

Rice University: A Montessori-method early education center for children of faculty, staff and students. In addition, there is a nursing room on campus with cooking facilities. Some slots at external childcare centers are secured for university-aliated users. The university website has extensive information on childcare support.

Swarthmore College: A system of referral to nearby childcare service providers. The university does not oer subsidies.