[kurige]

> I'd be interesting in hearing more Japanese/Swiss parents feedback on whether their country really is more liberal than the United States when it comes to letting their younger children walk to school in the presence of only another child, not older than 12 years old.

This isn't at all what you asked for, but I'm going to share it anyway, just for the sake of some heady juxtaposition. It's apparently a common sight in Iceland to see babies in strollers left unattended, outdoors, in sub-zero temperatures[1]. That definitely falls under the "you can't make this shit up," category for me. It's almost comically Viking.

[1]: http://qz.com/351821/for-generations-icelandic-babies-have-n...

[terryf]

Having had three kids and living in an almost nordic country (Estonia) I can confirm that yes, indeed infants do sleep outside in winter temperatures. Mine did as well and they're fine and of regular health.

The trick with sleeping outside is that you have to make sure that they're warm and that there is no wind directly blowing at their face and there is blankets and stuff surrounding. In this case, breathing actually creates a zone of warmer air, so they don't breathe in the super-cold air all the time. The upside is that they get to sleep in fresh air and the parents get some free time. Win-win.

Regarding scool-age kids not being left left alone, I can't even imagine how this could possibly work. School for my eight year old is done by 12:45 - I work at least until 17:00, usually even a bit more, so does his mom. He comes home after school, warms up his meal (using a gas stove with an open flame - never had an accident or even a mishap with this btw) and on the days that he has swimming practice takes a bus to that. Trip from school to home is about 8km.

I'd actually kind of like to know, how do people manage work in the US, where I understand that this kind of behaviour is not allowed. If I were to pick him up after school and come home with him every day, it would mean that I could only have a half-time job maximum..

[ghshephard]

In the United States (and Canada), these types of kids were referred to as, "Latchkey Kids" - which I always thought had a positive spin, but apparently some considered it more typical of the lower socio-economic class, and therefore negative.

To answer your question, Daycare or After School activities are two of the mechanisms used to keep children safe when their parents are working - which can be a real problem if the Daycare costs more than the salary being made by the employee - this is a real problem in the United States, and results in situations in which the parents would end up losing money by working.

Usually what happens is the parent finds another stay-at-home parent, or unemployed parent, to take care of their children for a smaller amount of $$$. Ask yourself what you did with your eight year old before he was eight years old. Now extend that out another couple years.

[dagw]

a common sight in Iceland to see babies in strollers left unattended, outdoors, in sub-zero temperatures

It's fairly common in most of Scandinavia as well.

[jacalata]

I have heard that this is common in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway, although I haven't seen it - for example, Norway: http://relocation.no/archives/culture-shock-norway-outdoor-s...

[m_mueller]

What an awesome read. Thanks for linking.