Survey Report: 94.6% of Users of Child-Rearing Support Service 'Home-Start' Say Their 'Sense of Isolation Has Been Relieved'

The certified NPO Home-Start Japan (Shinjuku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Keiko Morita) has conducted its first nationwide user survey in 10 years, as part of a project supported by The Nippon Foundation. In conjunction with the survey, interviews with public health nurses in seven municipalities that collaborate with Home-Start revealed that the service plays a crucial role in filling 'support gaps' that administrative services cannot cover.

[Survey Overview] - Survey Target: Pregnant women and families with infants aged 18 and over who used Home-Start between February 2024 and November 2025. - Survey Period: December 2025 - January 2026. - Number of Responses: 426 (requests for cooperation were made via postcard, email, and LINE, with the survey conducted via Google Forms).

[Survey Planning and Reports] - "Survey Report on the Needs and Effects for Pregnant Women and Families with Infants Using Resident-Based Companion Home Visit Support" - Principal Investigator: Yoshitaka Nozawa (Associate Professor, Tokyo Mirai University, Faculty of Child Psychology). - "Guide for Collaboration Between Professionals and Non-Professionals in Companion Support for Pregnant Women and Families with Infants" - Supervisor: Tomoka Takagi (Professor, Doshisha Women's University, Faculty of Nursing).

Before and After Using Home-Start ~ Specific Examples of 'Problems' and 'Effects' ##

When asked in the survey what problems they were facing before using Home-Start, the most prominent answer was 'one-person parenting,' accounting for 187 out of 426 responses. In addition, problems related to the parents' direct engagement with their children, such as anxiety about not knowing how to raise a child and the difficulty of raising two or more children, ranked high. Characteristically, these issues were not limited to the need for simple, one-off assistance like help with housework, but manifested as a complex burden originating from the state of 'shouldering childcare alone.'

When asked about the effects of using Home-Start, the most common response was 'my sense of isolation has been relieved,' with 94.6% of respondents affirming this. Following that, over 80% of users reported positive effects in areas such as reduced feelings of anxiety and irritation, feeling more connected to their community, better management of housework and childcare, being able to engage with their children with more余裕 (patience/composure), and becoming able to ask for help from people around them.