Childcare Workers Speak Out: 70% Love Their Jobs, But 80% Are Drowning in Red Tape

Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute “4th Basic Survey on Early Childhood Education and Childcare” 70% of childcare workers are “satisfied with their workplace/job”, but 80% are “burdened by the amount of administrative work”

Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute, an in-house think tank of Benesse Corporation (Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture; President and CEO Kobayashi Jin), conducted the “4th Basic Survey on Early Childhood Education and Childcare” from November to December 2023, targeting principals and caregivers of kindergartens, nursery schools, and certified child care centers across Japan.
Currently, the job availability ratio for childcare workers in Japan is higher than the average for all occupations, and the shortage of childcare workers has become a serious problem. In light of this, due to changes in the social environment and policies, kindergartens are expected to play a more diverse role, and childcare workers are required to have higher levels of specialized knowledge and skills. In order to respond to this situation, it is necessary to create an environment in which childcare workers can be satisfied with their work and provide support to prevent them from leaving the job. In order to consider measures to achieve this, this survey grasped the actual state of childcare workers’ job satisfaction and sense of burden, and analyzed the factors that affect them.
The results showed that while 70% of childcare workers were satisfied with their workplace and work, 80% felt burdened by the large amount of administrative work. Additionally, the lower the sense of burden from administrative work volume and working hours, the higher the childcare workers’ job satisfaction tended to be. Furthermore, it was revealed that nurseries where childcare workers with high job satisfaction worked had a sense of unity overall, good cooperation between workers, and the principal demonstrated strong management skills. It is believed that a nursery school’s unified approach to childcare can lead to increased job satisfaction.
Benesse Educational Research and Development Institute plans to further analyze the survey results and make proposals on how to create an environment where childcare workers can work comfortably and on how to improve childcare practices.

The main findings of the survey are as follows:
1. Job satisfaction of childcare workers: 70% are satisfied with their workplace and job
82.1% of childcare workers answered that they had good relationships with their coworkers, 74.8% were satisfied with their work, and 73.6% were satisfied with their workplace. Meanwhile, only 27.4% of respondents agreed that there was a good balance between their salary and the amount of work.
2. Workload of childcare workers: 80% feel burdened by the large amount of administrative work
79.4% answered that “the large amount of administrative work is a burden,” 66.9% answered that “dealing with children who require special care is a burden,” 63.8% answered that “the heavy responsibility of looking after children is a burden,” and 56.4% answered that “it is difficult to find time for training.”
3. The situation of the nursery school as perceived by the nursery teachers: 90% talk to each other about the children’s condition, and 70% develop human resources with career development in mind
94.9% responded that “caregivers often talk to each other about the children’s behavior,” 86.5% responded that “there is a safe atmosphere,” 75.3% responded that “the principal has good management skills,” and 65.7% responded that “the school provides personnel training with the career development of caregivers in mind.”
4. Job satisfaction of childcare workers according to sense of burden: Childcare workers who feel less burdened have higher job satisfaction
Childcare workers who feel less burdened by things like heavy administrative work, long working hours, and the heavy responsibility of looking after children have a higher level of job satisfaction than those who do not.
5. Job satisfaction of childcare workers by nursery school situation: Childcare workers who feel a sense of unity in the nursery school have high job satisfaction
Caregivers who feel that there is a sense of unity throughout the nursery school, that there is good cooperation among the staff, and that the principal demonstrates management skills have a level of job satisfaction that is about 20 to 30 points higher than those who do not.

Survey summary: