[Mother's Day Survey 2026] 82.6% of Dual-Income Mothers Feel 'No Leeway.' What's the Glimmer of Hope for Solving the 'Impossible Game' of Dual-Income Childcare?

Kidsline Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Roppongi, Minato-ku; President and CEO: Taiki Fukuda), which operates "Kidsline," a babysitting and housekeeping service that can be called 24 hours a day via smartphone nationwide, conducted a survey targeting 103 dual-income mothers (including those on maternity/childcare leave) on "The Burden on Dual-Income Households and Clues to Solutions" ahead of Mother's Day on Sunday, May 10, 2026. We will report on the results. ■ The harsh reality remains. 82.6% of dual-income mothers respond, "I have no leeway in my daily life." Amidst the prevalence of dual-income households, when asked about the extent to which they feel "no leeway" in balancing work, childcare, and housework, a total of 82.6% of mothers reported feeling a daily lack of leeway, combining "feel it (41.8%)" and "feel it very much (40.8%)". When asked, "When do you feel you have no leeway?", the following responses were frequently received: [Top 3 Moments of Feeling No Leeway] 1st place: Solo parenting/housework (56.7%) 2nd place: No personal time (51.7%) 3rd place: Child's sudden illness (49.2%) *Multiple answers allowed In the free-response section, many realistic anecdotes were shared about barely getting through each day. ● "It was tough when I had to start childcare and housework in the evening without finishing work for days on end." (Female in her 30s / Dual-income) ● "My older child got sick, then my younger child also got sick, and I had to take a long leave from work, which was very difficult. Then, when the children recovered, I got sick myself." (Female in her 40s / Dual-income) ■ Only 14.6% had "alone time" on Mother's Day last year. The deep-rooted structure of "cannot rest." In the 2025 Mother's Day survey, when asked "What would you be happy for your family to do for you on Mother's Day?", the top answer was "I want them to create time for me to spend alone (43.8%)". In this survey, when asked "Were you able to have alone time on Mother's Day last year?", only 14.6% responded affirmatively, combining "a little (10.7%)" and "sufficiently (3.9%)". Furthermore, in response to the question "What would you really want to do if you had alone time?", earnest voices such as "I just want to relax and do nothing" and "I just want to sleep" were gathered, indicating the difficulty mothers face in getting rest. ■ Spring 2026: Expanding options for support. Progress in systems and the gap on the ground. In recent years, systems supporting children and guardians have steadily expanded. The revised "Childcare and Family Care Leave Law," which came into effect in October 2025, explicitly mentioned the utilization of external services such as babysitters as an option for balancing childcare and work. Additionally, the "Anyone can attend childcare system" (support benefits for infants, etc.) will start in April 2026, and the expansion of child allowance and strengthening of diverse childcare support are progressing. This system is attracting attention not only for reducing the burden on guardians but also as a mechanism aiming for a society where "all children receive equal support." Indeed, in this survey, 66.7% of respondents felt that the environment surrounding childcare and working styles had "improved significantly" or "improved somewhat" in the past 1-2 years. Among the systems and support perceived as particularly useful, responses related to established systems in modern childcare, such as "nursery schools/kindergartens (78.6%)", "child allowance (72.8%)", and "local government support (44.7%)", were frequently seen. On the other hand, voices mentioning the utilization of babysitting support systems implemented by governments and local authorities, and private babysitting/housekeeping services as useful systems and support, were also observed, indicating that they are gaining attention as new options for supporting childcare. However, this survey revealed that 82.6% of mothers responded "I have no leeway in my daily life," making it clear that a gap still exists between the perceived improvement in the environment and the burden on the ground. Now that systems are being put in place, the utilization of external services such as babysitters is beginning to be positioned as a more realistic means of childcare support. Moving forward, it is expected that the way society supports childcare will further expand through the combined efforts of both public systems and private services. ■ The choice to "rely on others." The spread of external service utilization. While systems are being developed, the daily burden remains significant, and situations where it is difficult to cope within the household alone are also observed. In such circumstances, another powerful "clue to a solution" is to "rely on external forces," including private services. When asked what they rely on when feeling at their limit, in addition to partners and grandparents, responses included "babysitters (29.2%)", "housekeeping services (17.5%)", and "local government support services (13.3%)".