Parents of children with disabilities in Japan face “18-year-old wall”, forced to quit jobs to care for children

Extract from The Fukushi Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan

January 9 2025

TOKYO – The Association of Parents Who Work While Raising Children with Disabilities and Children with Medical Care held a press conference at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on December 17, 2024. When children turn 18 and graduate from special-needs schools, they can no longer receive after-school day care services, which are available until around 6 pm. The majority of these services end around 3:00PM, forcing parents to leave their jobs to watch over and care for their children.

The “18-year-old barrier” is due to the increase in the number of working parents since the commercialization of after-school day care services in 2012, and the change in the system from the Child Welfare Law until the age of 18 to the Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities Law after the age of 18.

Saho Kudo, president of the Parents’ Association and the mother of a 17-year-old daughter with severe intellectual disabilities, said, “There are many working parents who are in dire straits to make ends meet, to pay for their siblings’ education, and to save money to leave to their children after the death of their parents. If measures are not taken to prevent them from leaving the workforce, many families will be impoverished,” she said, calling for the government to establish a support system, such as extending the hours of daily living care.

　According to a survey conducted by the Parents Association on the “18-year old barrier” (310 responses), 53% of parents work full-time and 24% work part-time. Sixty-five percent of the children attend special-needs schools or special-needs classes, and 93% require constant or partial supervision or assistance. Fifty-four percent used after-school day care services at least three times a week on weekdays.

Based on the survey results, Professor Tomoko Tanaka of Bukkyo University commented, “If parents’ income during their working years is low, they will have low pensions, and their adult children’s basic disability pensions will support the family budget. This raises the risk of caregiving for the aged and disabled,” she pointed out.