As double-income households become more common, many couples with small children are turning for help from those with experience: their parents.

And an increasing number of local governments and companies are responding to the trend by allowing their employees to take special leave to look after their grandchildren.

However, men need to be encouraged to do more child-rearing to reduce the mothers’ parenting burdens, while grandparents need to put trust in the opinions of their children in how they are raising the grandchildren to avoid generational conflict, experts say.

EXTRA BIT OF HELP

Yukari Furukawa, 60, a staffer in the department of children at the Koriyama city government in Fukushima Prefecture, took “grandchild-care leave” four times between February and August this year to look after her two grandchildren, aged 1 and 3, at the home of her second-eldest daughter in Okinawa.

“My daughter, who lives far from home, has few people around to rely on, and it is hard for her to raise children while she pursues her career,” said Furukawa, who also serves as head of a child care center in the city. “Thanks to grandchild-care leave, I could support my daughter’s family and see my adorable grandchildren.”

The city government introduced the special leave program in February for workers to take leave to look after their grandchildren and tend to their children after they give birth.

A total of 30 staffers took the leave by the end of August, it said.

In August, Furukawa took four days off to take care of her grandchildren while her daughter and her daughter’s husband went to work early in the morning.

She said she was happy to give advice to her daughter both as an experienced mother and as a child-rearing expert.

“I could tell my daughter that it would be all right not to do it perfectly and that she should try to stay calm,” she said.

With double-income households on the rise, the Miyagi prefectural government introduced a system in January to allow workers to take leave until their grandchildren turn 1 to encourage them to participate in their children’s parenting efforts.

“With the mandatory retirement age of prefectural workers having been gradually raised, the number of those who have grandchildren is also increasing,” an official of the human resources division said. “Taking grandchild-care leave is easier to gain understanding from their colleagues than taking regular paid leave, which then helps them feel less hesitant about taking it.”

Okinawa Financial Group Inc. followed suit in April, introducing the “nmaga” (“grandchild” in the Okinawan dialect) leave system.

Staffers can take up to five days off per year when they have a preschool-age grandchild. They can take time off for up to 10 days when there are two or more such grandchildren.

“Our employees’ engagement goes up when there is a system in place in which they can work with their minds at ease, while it also helps them work for a long time,” a representative said.

Harumi Kakazu, 62, a part-time worker at the Bank of Okinawa Ltd. which is affiliated with the group, took grandchild-care leave in June to care for her second-oldest daughter and her 3-year-old granddaughter, Ena, when her daughter got a fever.

Before the employee benefit was introduced, Kakazu mainly used paid holidays for her hospital appointments, Buddhist memorial services and other personal affairs, meaning she couldn’t afford to take a day off to help her daughter look after Ena.

“I feel free to use the nmaga leave, and my daughter and other family members are also happy because they were previously hesitant to ask me for help,” she said.

FAMILIES AT A CROSSROAD

Junji Miyahara, head of the diversity and work-life balance promotion division at Toray Corporate Business Research Inc., cited two underlying reasons for the rise in grandchild-care leave.

First, there being more double-income couples means a growing need for their parents to participate more in child-rearing.

Secondly, there is a rising number of workers with grandchildren after the retirement age was raised.

It is believed that Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. was among the first to allow employees to take leave when they had a grandchild. The system was introduced in October 2006.

Miyahara said such a benefit will likely continue to spread because it can help companies promote their flexible working conditions.

However, he added: “To reduce the burden of child-rearing for families with small children, municipalities and companies must strengthen their efforts to encourage husbands to take part in parenting.”

Meanwhile, other efforts are also being made to pass on the know-how on raising grandkids.

Municipal governments are issuing handbooks containing tips on looking after grandchildren to support grandparents' participation in child-rearing.

This fall, Benesse Corp. published a one-time information magazine intended for first-time grandparents to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Tamago Club and Hiyoko Club magazines about pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.

The company said it will give the special edition for free to 50,000 readers selected through a lottery.

The special magazine shows how to connect with grandchildren and prevent accidents when taking care of them. It also shares common knowledge about raising children that has changed over time, as revealed in a survey covering respondents from both generations.

“The birth of a grandchild brings the family to a crossroads where their relationship will be affected,” said Maya Tsukaguchi, editor-in-chief of the magazine. She said communication was essential.

“I want grandparents to respect the intentions of their children and ask them things like what they usually do when parenting,” she said. “On the other hand, I also hope couples with small children do not take their parents’ support for granted and make sure to verbally express their gratitude.”