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Shimizu, A., Bakker, A.B., Demerouti, E., Fujiwara, T., Iwata, N., Shimada, K., Takahashi, M., Tokita, M., Watai, I. and Kawakami, N. (2020) Workaholism, Work Engagement and Child Well-Being: A Test of the Spillover-Crossover Model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, Article 6213.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176213

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Challenges in Work-Family Balance and Support Needs of Japanese Parents with Nursery School-Aged Children

  AUTHORS: Yuko Shimoda, Miyuki Ishii, Yuichi Hori

  KEYWORDS: Childrearing, Parent, Public Health Nurse, Work-Family Balance

  JOURNAL NAME: Health, Vol.15 No.6, June 30, 2023

  ABSTRACT: We aimed to identify the challenges parents face raising preschool-aged children when trying to maintain a good work-family balance. We also highlight how public health nurses can support the community in this regard. Seven Japanese parents volunteered to participate, and individual in-depth interviews were conducted from May to October 2021. We analyzed the recorded interview data using qualitative descriptive methods. Three main themes concerning work-family balance challenges were extracted: 1) conflicts between parents’ childcare and work roles, 2) issues related to institutions and social systems, and 3) a lack of informal support. Factors contributing to the difficulties were a lack of time to spend with their children; an imbalance in the division of housework and childcare roles between married couples; the employment environment in Japan that makes it difficult to pursue a career while raising children; a lack of childcare services, including childcare for sick children; inadequate consultation systems; and an aging grandparents’ generation owing to late marriages. To solve this problem, we suggest that in addition to establishing a reliable system for providing childcare, local public health nurses should work with childcare workers to create an environment in which parents feel comfortable discussing work-family balance, considering the time constraints of parents during the childrearing period, and use nursery schools as a place for parent-child support.