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Against the backdrop of an aging Japan, and as a countermeasure against the low birthrate phenomenon, the promotion of an environment that allows children, pregnant women, and parents of babies and young children to participate in out-of-home activities in a safe and comfortable manner is increasingly becoming more important. This study focuses on barriers encountered by parents with young children when conducting out-of-home daily activities. The authors classified barriers in several categories: Transportation system, activity opportunities, household activity scheduling, childcare services, childcare information and public attitudes towards childcare. To examine the effect of these barriers on daily out-of-home activity participation, the authors conducted a web-based questionnaire survey of 1,000 women with young children living in the Kanto Region, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Using the data collected from this survey, the authors analyzed the differences in travel mode by trip, segmented according to trip purpose on both rainy and fine weather days. Then, frequency of with/without children grocery shopping, strolls and outings to parks were modeled to further investigate important barriers. Finally, the authors examined differences in mothers’ attitudes toward several kinds of barriers given different residential location, and the effect of personal and household characteristics on those attitudes. Findings suggest that difficulties encountered when conducting out-of-home activities differ given different living areas. In the Tokyo central area, barriers were related to the public transport systems and building characteristics at the destination. In Tokyo suburban areas, barriers were associated with the pedestrian and bicycle environment. Finally, in local cities in Northern Kanto Region barriers were more related to car use. The authors also found evidence suggesting that mothers with children under three years old, and nuclear families not living close to others who could support them in raising children, felt the existence of more barriers. On the other hand, mothers with more years of experience in child-raising felt fewer difficulties in raising children.
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