Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike on Friday announced a plan to boost capacity at day care centers for children in Tokyo to 17,000 as part of efforts to ease the country¡¯s chronic shortage of such spots at care facilities.
The number of children on waiting lists in the capital was 8,466 as of April 1, the highest of the nation¡¯s main cities and 652 higher compared to the same time last year, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
To address the issue, Koike has drafted a proposal for an additional budget of ?12.6 billion to provide assistance to operators of child care centers and will ease regulations to make it easier to establish new facilities.
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