Author(s)

Yuko Shimoda¹, Miyuki Ishii^2*, Yuichi Hori³

¹Faculty of Nursing, Kyoto Tachibana University, Kyoto, Japan.
²College of Nursing Art and Science, University of Hyogo, Akashi, Japan.
³Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan.

We aimed to identify the challenges parents face raising preschool-aged children when trying to maintain a good work-family balance. We also highlight how public health nurses can support the community in this regard. Seven Japanese parents volunteered to participate, and individual in-depth interviews were conducted from May to October 2021. We analyzed the recorded interview data using qualitative descriptive methods. Three main themes concerning work-family balance challenges were extracted: 1) conflicts between parents’ childcare and work roles, 2) issues related to institutions and social systems, and 3) a lack of informal support. Factors contributing to the difficulties were a lack of time to spend with their children; an imbalance in the division of housework and childcare roles between married couples; the employment environment in Japan that makes it difficult to pursue a career while raising children; a lack of childcare services, including childcare for sick children; inadequate consultation systems; and an aging grandparents’ generation owing to late marriages. To solve this problem, we suggest that in addition to establishing a reliable system for providing childcare, local public health nurses should work with childcare workers to create an environment in which parents feel comfortable discussing work-family balance, considering the time constraints of parents during the childrearing period, and use nursery schools as a place for parent-child support.

Childrearing, Parent, Public Health Nurse, Work-Family Balance

Shimoda, Y. , Ishii, M. and Hori, Y. (2023) Challenges in Work-Family Balance and Support Needs of Japanese Parents with Nursery School-Aged Children. Health, 15, 622-639. doi: 10.4236/health.2023.156039.