elected officials want to prohibit parents from leaving their children alone at home

This new provision, which should be voted on this week in a prefecture north of Tokyo, is far from unanimous. It must be put to the vote at the end of the week in Saitama prefecture. It is a local authority in the northern suburbs of Tokyo, home to 1.3 million people. There is a very good chance that this new regulation will be adopted because the conservative party, which is in power in the community, has already announced that it will vote on this text. This would be a first in the entire country and perhaps even in Asia.

For the bearers of the text, if there is no adult, it is parental neglect

The elected officials of Saitama explain that their objective is above all to better protect children. To support their campaign, they refer to news items from recent years. Tragedy where babies died after being forgotten in the back of a car in the middle of summer. Or domestic accidents where children were injured while their parents were out running an errand. Their idea is to now consider that leaving your child alone is dangerous, and that it is therefore a form of abuse like any other.

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The text says that it will now be prohibited to leave a child under the age of nine alone, without the supervision of an adult. He should never be alone at home. But, also, he should not be alone on the way to school. He must always be in the presence of an adult. So the presence of the 17-year-old big sister, or the big brother, does not count. If there is no adult, it is parental neglect, the text warns. It also specifies that residents of the prefecture will have to report to the authorities parents who have left their child alone at home, even if it is only for a few minutes. For the moment, the text does not speak of formal sanctions against offending parents. But conservative elected officials say they will consider punishments if this new pressure is not enough to change behavior.

A text far from being unanimous in a country in the midst of a demographic crisis

Not all residents agree with these new arrangements. There is a lot of resistance within the Saitama Prefectural Assembly itself. Many elected officials explain that this ordinance is crazy and that it will create new unease among parents who already cannot juggle work and children. Due to labor shortages, it is very complicated to find places in daycare. There is also no culture of babysitters in Japan. Opponents of the text explain that these threats will further frighten young couples who are already hesitant about starting a family. And that this will further aggravate the demographic crisis which is extremely serious here. Japan loses more than 800,000 inhabitants per year.