Why Do They Leave? The Counterplans to Continue Working among Preschool Workers in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Procedure
2.3. Measures
2.4. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Willingness to Participate
3.2. Workshop Idea Categories
Rank No. | Workshop Ideas for Proposed Solutions | n (%) n = 479 |
---|---|---|
Guardians | ||
1 | The ways to take care of/support children’s guardians | 41 (9) |
15 | Common understanding between guardians and childcare workers | 18 (4) |
24 | Workshop for children’s guardians | 11 (2) |
38 | The ways to support parents and children | 7 (1) |
Taking care of children | ||
2 | The ways to take care of children requiring support | 39 (8) |
7 | The ways to take care of children with developmental disorder | 27 (6) |
12 | The ways to take care of children | 21 (4) |
19 | Methods of activities for childcare | 13 (3) |
18 | Case examination of children | 14 (3) |
21 | Highly professional workshop | 12 (3) |
25 | Contents of childcare/the ways of childcare | 11 (2) |
31 | The ways to take care of children in the grey zone/undiagnosed | 9 (2) |
32 | Methods of playing and hand playing | 9 (2) |
34 | Practical workshop/experience-based workshop | 9 (2) |
40 | Skill up | 7 (1) |
Understanding children | ||
29 | Group discussion | 10 (2) |
41 | The ways to understand children | 6 (1) |
42 | The ways to understand disability | 6 (1) |
43 | Special needs of children | 6 (1) |
Place to share suffering | ||
3 | Create places to share suffering and advisement | 35 (7) |
4 | Interaction with other kindergartens and workers working in different places | 34 (7) |
36 | Interaction with coeval workers | 9 (2) |
37 | Interaction with childminders | 8 (2) |
Basic skills for work | ||
8 | Human relations | 26 (5) |
11 | Communication methods | 23 (5) |
28 | Methods of coaching freshers and juniors | 10 (2) |
47 | Common sense/manners | 5 (1) |
Mental health | ||
13 | Refresh for workers’ mind | 21 (4) |
16 | Resolution of stress for workers | 15 (3) |
17 | Mental health for workers | 14 (3) |
20 | Exercises/dance for workers | 13 (3) |
27 | Psychology | 10 (2) |
30 | Counseling | 10 (2) |
45 | The ways to think | 6 (1) |
46 | Relaxation | 6 (1) |
The ways of working | ||
9 | Workshop for directors and bosses | 26 (5) |
14 | Methods for efficient work | 18 (4) |
22 | High quality workshop inside of kindergarten | 12 (3) |
23 | The ways to work/work system | 11 (2) |
26 | The ways of class governance | 10 (2) |
33 | How to work | 9 (2) |
35 | All-hands workshop | 9 (2) |
44 | Cooperative framework | 6 (1) |
Others | ||
5 | Workshop is burden | 30 (6) |
6 | The problems cannot be solved with workshops | 29 (6) |
10 | Others | 24 (5) |
39 | Workshop is unnecessary | 7 (1) |
No. | Workshop Ideas to Solve Job Problems/Improve Conditions | n = 716 n (%) |
---|---|---|
Employment conditions | ||
1 | Better salary | 310 (43) |
3 | Easier to have holidays/private time | 83 (12) |
6 | Overtime work is paid | 57 (8) |
10 | Easier to have paid holidays | 44 (6) |
11 | Can leave work on time | 37 (5) |
23 | Two days’ holiday in a week | 16 (2) |
49 | Have holidays on weekdays | 7 (1) |
50 | Increase in paid holidays | 7 (1) |
58 | Can have long vacation | 6 (1) |
59 | No work on days off | 6 (1) |
Workforce | ||
2 | More workers | 95 (13) |
18 | More subsidiary/workers for miscellaneous duties | 26 (4) |
61 | More full-time workers | 6 (1) |
Workload | ||
4 | Less or simplification of administrative work/document work | 81 (11) |
5 | Less take-out work | 76 (11) |
7 | Less/simplification of kindergarten festivals | 48 (7) |
8 | Less/no overtime work | 47 (7) |
9 | Less workload | 46 (6) |
12 | Can do document work in work time | 35 (5) |
20 | Effective and equal assigning tasks | 20 (3) |
34 | Less workshops | 10 (1) |
38 | Less/simplification of making materials/preparation of childcare | 9 (1) |
69 | Can prepare for childcare in work time | 5 (1) |
Human relations | ||
13 | Good human relations | 32 (4) |
30 | Atmosphere to enable advice seeking | 13 (2) |
32 | Better communication with guardians/children/colleagues | 12 (2) |
41 | A friendly workplace | 9 (1) |
42 | Place to share suffering | 9 (1) |
45 | Agreement among coworkers | 8 (1) |
54 | Discussion between workers | 7 (1) |
56 | Teamwork of workers | 7 (1) |
72 | Common understanding of children between workers | 5 (1) |
Relationship with boss/seniors | ||
25 | Directors and boss understand the field | 15 (2) |
39 | Good relationship with boss | 9 (1) |
44 | Boss listens to opinions of workers | 8 (1) |
52 | Evaluation and praise by directors and boss | 7 (1) |
57 | No power harassment | 7 (1) |
65 | Can tell opinions and discuss with not only juniors but also seniors | 6 (1) |
71 | Boss listens to workers’ suffering and takes care of it | 5 (1) |
Work environment | ||
14 | Governance of duty hours | 32 (4) |
15 | Readjustment of work framework/work contents | 29 (4) |
16 | Readjustment of staffing standards | 28 (4) |
17 | Can have break time | 27 (4) |
37 | Less burden on the ones in charge | 9 (1) |
47 | Good workplace atmosphere | 8 (1) |
51 | Efficient work | 7 (1) |
60 | Use of timecard | 6 (1) |
62 | Digitalization/use artificial intelligence | 6 (1) |
67 | Fun workplace | 6 (1) |
74 | Management well | 5 (1) |
Welfare benefits | ||
19 | Can balance work with family life/marriage and giving birth | 26 (4) |
21 | Better welfare (allowance of house/sustenance/commutation/maternal leave, etc.) | 19 (2) |
26 | Better compensation package for workers | 14 (2) |
Duty framework | ||
22 | Abrogation of one person being in charge/Having multiple persons in charge | 17 (2) |
24 | Have cooperative framework | 16 (2) |
40 | Small class | 9 (1) |
63 | Concert of policies/restructuring of workplace | 6 (1) |
Taking care of children | ||
29 | Have specialists for special needs/visits by advisors | 13 (2) |
46 | Acceptance of and environment for handicapped children | 8 (1) |
66 | Place and time to take care of guardians and children enough | 6 (1) |
68 | Skill-up/improvement of childcare quality | 6 (1) |
70 | Sufficient workshops | 5 (1) |
73 | Improvement of facility and environment for childcare | 5 (1) |
Taking care of guardians | ||
31 | Check actual needs of childcare service (guardians’ days off/weekends/extended childcare) | 12 (2) |
35 | Better understanding of kindergarten policy by guardians | 10 (1) |
43 | Understanding of expertness and evaluation by guardians and society | 9 (1) |
48 | Less taking care of guardians | 8 (1) |
64 | Place to make guardians understand about children (developmental disorders, etc.) | 6 (1) |
Mental health conditions | ||
36 | Good mental health | 10 (1) |
53 | Counselor | 7 (1) |
55 | Work engagement | 7 (1) |
Others | ||
27 | Others | 14 (2) |
28 | Improvement of the way to train up freshers | 13 (2) |
33 | Advancement in social status of kindergarten teachers | 12 (2) |
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Reasons for Willingness to Leave Employment | n = 502 n (%) |
---|---|
Too much overtime work | 258 (51) |
Low salary | 233 (46) |
Human relations | 144 (29) |
Marriage | 122 (24) |
Differences in childcare/education policies between workplace and oneself | 100 (20) |
Difficulties in taking care of children’s guardians | 90 (18) |
Pregnancy/giving birth | 77 (15) |
Difficulties in taking care of children | 74 (15) |
Unsatisfactory welfare benefits | 57 (11) |
Working time/day problems | 54 (11) |
Inadequate levels of satisfaction at work | 53 (11) |
Other reasons | 52 (10) |
Health problems | 48 (10) |
Family problems | 39 (8) |
Changing jobs | 41 (8) |
No. | Reasons for Possibly Quitting the Job | n = 344 n (%) |
---|---|---|
1 | Low salary | 70 (20) |
2 | Too much overtime work/no payment for overtime | 52 (15) |
3 | Too much workload | 51 (14) |
4 | Human relations | 50 (15) |
5 | Difficulties balancing family life and work | 49 (14) |
6 | Too much take-out work | 43 (13) |
7 | Relationships with directors/bosses/seniors | 37 (11) |
8 | Work on holidays | 34 (10) |
9 | Mental stress | 31 (71) |
10 | Differences in childcare/education policies between workplace/others and oneself | 28 (8) |
11 | Difficulties in taking care of children’s guardians | 20 (6) |
12 | Framework of workplace | 20 (6) |
13 | Working time/day problems | 19 (6) |
14 | Health problems | 19 (6) |
15 | Difficulties obtaining days off | 18 (5) |
16 | Too much document work | 16 (7) |
17 | Other reasons | 16 (7) |
18 | Marriage | 13 (4) |
19 | Power harassment | 13 (4) |
20 | Difficulties in taking care of children | 12 (3) |
21 | Inadequate levels of satisfaction at work | 11 (3) |
22 | Lack of workers | 11 (3) |
23 | Other challenges | 11 (3) |
24 | Complaint for directors | 10 (3) |
25 | Difficulties procuring childcare/education at work | 9 (3) |
26 | No rest time | 9 (3) |
27 | Contents of work | 9 (3) |
28 | Pregnancy/giving birth | 8 (2) |
29 | Weight of responsibility | 7 (2) |
30 | Differences in concept of values with others | 7 (2) |
31 | Unsatisfactory welfare benefits | 6 (2) |
32 | Too many events at workplace | 6 (2) |
33 | Not acknowledged by others | 5 (1) |
34 | No confidence | 5 (1) |
35 | No work engagement | 5 (1) |
No. | Tasks Performed in OT Work in the Last 30 Days (n = 633) | OT Work Done at Workplace n (%) | OT Work Done at Home n (%) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Preparation for events | 263 (42) | 157 (25) |
2 | Administrative work | 194 (31) | 419 (66) |
3 | Extension of childcare/education | 122 (19) | 2 (0) |
4 | Preparation for childcare/education | 113 (18) | 53 (8) |
5 | Meeting | 42 (7) | 1 (0) |
6 | Preparation for educational tools/ teaching materials | 37 (6) | 54 (9) |
7 | Making teaching materials | 30 (5) | 85 (13) |
8 | General work | 25 (4) | 3 (0) |
9 | Taking care of guardians | 24 (4) | 0 |
10 | Cleaning/decluttering | 24 (4) | 0 |
11 | Others | 17 (3) | 9 (1) |
12 | Miscellaneous duties | 16 (3) | 3 (0) |
13 | Attendance for events | 14 (2) | 2 (0) |
14 | Workshop/research | 10 (2) | 6 (1) |
15 | Set up environment | 8 (1) | 1 (0) |
16 | Over-thinking | 7 (1) | 6 (1) |
17 | Cultivation/education for juniors | 5 (1) | 1 (0) |
18 | Playing a piano | 4 (1) | 16 (3) |
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Matsuo, M.; Higashijima, M. Why Do They Leave? The Counterplans to Continue Working among Preschool Workers in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Children 2023, 10, 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010032
Matsuo M, Higashijima M. Why Do They Leave? The Counterplans to Continue Working among Preschool Workers in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Children. 2023; 10(1):32. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010032
Chicago/Turabian StyleMatsuo, Moemi, and Misako Higashijima. 2023. "Why Do They Leave? The Counterplans to Continue Working among Preschool Workers in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey" Children 10, no. 1: 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010032