Children from low-income families take fewer enrichment lessons
Some 70% of children from Japanese households with an annual income of less than ¥3 million ($20,540) take no enrichment lesson outside of school education, according to a survey by a nonprofit organization.
Gaps are also seen in ways children spend after-school hours at home between low-income and other households.
"Disparities in after-school experiences may give broad impacts on children's learning and upbringing," said an official at Houkago NPO Afterschool, the organization.
The survey was conducted online over Jan. 17 and 18, targeting 1,200 guardians of elementary school children of dual-income and single-parent households.
Among all respondents, 61.6% said their children take enrichment lessons. The proportion of children who take lessons and the frequency of doing so are higher as household income increases, according to the survey.
The proportion of households with children taking no enrichment lesson amounted to 38.7% for those with an annual income of between ¥3 million and ¥6 million, 34.1% for those with an income of ¥6 million between ¥10 million, and 27.8% for those with an income of ¥10 million or more.
As high as 69.2% of households with an income of under ¥3 million do not send their children for enrichment lessons.
The survey found that children from 27.1% of households attend cram schools overall but that the proportion was as small as 13.8% for households with an annual income of under ¥3 million.
In addition to financial reasons, parents' unavailability to take their children to and from cram schools due to work commitments may be a factor, according to the organization.
Of all respondents, 35.8% said their children have no opportunity to play with friends after school. For households with an income of below ¥3 million, the proportion was 52.3%.
Asked about how their children spend after-school hours at home, no one from households with an income of under ¥3 million responded they were into sports or music, compared with 10% to 30% for all other households.
"Taking enrichment lessons and playing with friends provide significant opportunities. Improving the environment will be needed to help all children to acquire various experiences," the Houkago NPO Afterschool official said.
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