Current Status and Support Measures for Young Carers in Japan

Abstract

In this article, I examine the current status of ‘young carers’ in Japan and the measures the Japanese government has taken to assist them. Initially, the Japanese government’s young carer survey targeted junior and senior high school students. Later, as findings suggested that family caregiving begins at younger ages, the survey expanded to include primary school students as well. The proportion of family carers, as it turned out, was higher in elementary school children than in junior and senior high school students. Support for young carers in Japan begins with determining whether the child in question is indeed a young carer, itself a process involving prudent judgment. The support that follows is delivered in organic collaboration with social welfare, long-term care, health care, and educational institutions, as a child becoming a family carer may testify to various difficulties within the child’s family. I suggest that Korea consider establishing a system of support for young carers, including primary school children, without necessarily going so far as to establish corresponding legislative acts.