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Attitude toward Childrearing and Social Independence of Youths
- Survey Results on Attitudes of Parents and Children -

In fiscal 2004, the Cabinet Office conducted a survey on attitudes toward social independence of young people, by delivering questionnaires to a total of 7,500 juveniles nationwide at ages between 15 and 29 years and their parents. (Valid respondents include 4,091 juveniles (54.5%) and 4,078 parents (54.4%).) The following is the summary of some noticeable results in this survey concerning attitudes of parents toward childrearing and mutual understanding between parents and children.

1. Parents' attitude toward childrearing and children's impression

(Parents' attitude)

[Policy in childrearing] 1 More than 70% of all parent respondents answered that they frequently or sometimes try to encourage their children to establish "the attitude of thinking and acting at their own discretion," "the ability of living independently" and "the attitude of actively gaining various social experiences." Apparently, many parents put more importance on the social independence of their children than their success in working life.

(Impression which young people have of their parents)

1 Juveniles were asked whether they feel that their father/mother "exchanges conversation on various topics with me," "has a good understanding about me" or "frequently lectures me about my future/current career or the necessity to work hard at school." Many juvenile respondents answered "yes" on "mother" more frequently than on "father" for all of the above questions. About 50% of the juvenile respondents are positive about their mother's behavior/attitude in terms of frequent conversation on various topics and a good understanding about them, while only about 30% are positive about their father. On the other hand, only about 26% of the juvenile respondents answered that they "understand my father's (mother's) working life well," and only about 16% answered that they "feel proud of my father (mother) because he (she) leads a worthwhile life."

2. Opinion gap between parents and children on independence

(Opinion of parents/children on paid employment)

1 In the survey, school students, pupils, unemployed juveniles and their parents were asked about their opinion on whether or not a paid job is necessary. As a result, 52.6% of parent respondents answered that they want their children to get a job (and continue working) even if they are not fully satisfied with their job, while only 24.3% of juvenile respondents said they would like to get a job regardless of whether a job is satisfactory. 52.9% of juvenile respondents answered that they would like to get a job only when they find a satisfactory job. Thus, there is an opinion gap between parents and children on the importance of job satisfaction. (Figures 9 and 10)

Figure 9    Parents' expectation on their children's working life

Figure 10    Attitude of juveniles toward their working life

Parents tend to desire to see their children get a job and continue working even if they are not fully satisfied with their job, although children themselves tend to put more importance on satisfaction with their job. Also, many parents desire to see their children become independent mentally and economically from their parents and establish confidence in their occupation. At the same time, nearly 80% of both parents and children are positive about having a job.

3. For social independence of young people

There are three problems young people have to overcome to achieve social independence: finding a job, becoming economically and mentally independent from their parents, and becoming conscious of their responsibility as a member of society. All these problems are mutually related, and efforts are important, not only when juveniles establish social independence but also earlier when children are younger. Therefore, families, schools, workplaces and local communities should understand their roles and responsibilities, and make efforts to create a support system throughout society for juveniles.