Pay disparity drives child-care staff migration from suburbs to Tokyo and Osaka

Municipalities bordering Japan’s major metros are alarmed that child-care workers are moving to Tokyo and Osaka for higher salaries, a trend highlighted by a Chiba Prefecture survey in which roughly 60% of respondents favored Tokyo, citing pay and benefits. The disparity stems from regional variations in government wage supplements, with Tokyo’s 23 wards receiving a 20% boost versus Chiba’s 16% cap. In response, Funabashi introduced an extra allowance of over 500,000 yen per year, while MotherPlanet Co. began paying university students up to 20,000 yen a month to secure future staff.

In Nara Prefecture, about 48% of 2023 child-care training graduates took jobs elsewhere, mainly Osaka, though a new 10,000-yen monthly incentive cut that share to 42%. Officials from Chiba, Saitama, Nara, Wakayama and Saga have collectively urged the Children and Families Agency to address pay gaps; the agency has launched a nationwide survey and aims to present reforms around December.