To Prevent Parents from Giving Up Jobs Due to Children's School Refusal: 'School Refusal Resignation Survey 2026' Launched Nationwide

NPO Key Design (Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture; Representative Director: Yuhei Dobashi) has launched the 'School Refusal Resignation Survey 2026' targeting parents nationwide whose children have experienced school refusal or reluctance to attend school, to clarify the impact on parents' employment, household finances, and mental and physical health.

The purpose of this survey is to reveal the actual situation of 'School Refusal Resignation,' where parents are forced to take leaves or resign from their jobs due to their children's school refusal, and to broaden social understanding. The survey period is from Friday, April 24, 2026, to Saturday, May 2, 23:59.

Targeting parents who are currently or have previously experienced parenting children with school refusal, the survey aims for 1,000 responses. As of the morning of April 27, the third day of the survey, more than 200 responses have already been received.

The survey asks about the child's condition when school refusal/reluctance started, the mental and physical impact on the parent, the impact on their job, whether they took a leave or resigned, the impact on household finances, and the presence of a supportive environment at work. It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. The results will be published on PR TIMES and the school refusal portal site 'Tayori' and will also be compiled as a white paper for corporations.

### Background of the Survey

According to surveys by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the number of students who refuse to attend school is increasing every year. On the other hand, the difficulties parents face in continuing their work when confronted with their child's school refusal have not yet been sufficiently visualized.

When a child becomes unable to go to school, parents take on many responsibilities, including communicating with the school, monitoring the child at home, mental and physical care, searching for places to stay, and coordinating with medical and welfare institutions. This burden can significantly impact the parent's way of working and household finances, such as increased tardiness, leaving early, absenteeism, reduced working hours, leave of absence, resignation, and decreased income.

However, these situations tend to be treated as domestic problems and are not sufficiently understood within the workplace or society. NPO Key Design operates 'Mother's Health Room,' one of Japan's largest LINE consultation services for parents of children with school refusal. Through this window, they have received many voices from struggling parents. This survey aims to deliver these voices to society and connect them to efforts by companies to understand and prevent resignations among employees raising children who refuse school.

### Survey Overview

* **Survey Name:** School Refusal Resignation Survey 2026 * **Target:** Parents nationwide who are currently or have previously experienced their child's school refusal or reluctance to attend school. * **Period:** Friday, April 24, 2026 – Saturday, May 2, 23:59 * **Target Number of Responses:** 1,000 * **Time Required:** Approx. 10–15 minutes * **Method:** Online survey via Google Form * **Main Items:** Child's condition at the time, impact on parent's health, impact on work, leave/resignation status, impact on household finances, presence of consultation environment at work, support needed to balance work and childcare.

### Representative Comment

'When a child stops going to school, parents face many challenges simultaneously, such as daily monitoring, care, and balancing work with household tasks. Some parents who want to keep working are forced to reduce hours or resign. This is too large a challenge for families to handle alone. School refusal is becoming an important theme for companies regarding employee resignation. Through this survey, we hope to build a society where parents don't have to give up their jobs because of their child's school refusal.'

Yuhei Dobashi, Representative Director, NPO Key Design