A nursing home in Japan has been hiring babies to accompany residents and make them smile.
The new “employees” of the establishment, located in the city of Kitakyushu, in the southwest of the country, must be under the age of four and their parents sign a contract stipulating that their children can go to work whenever they want.
Also according to the document, babies can take a break when they are hungry or sleepy.
So far, more than 30 families have signed up their babies to accompany about 100 seniors, most of whom are in their eighties, said facility director Kimie Gondo.
“Just seeing the babies makes them smile,” she told the AFP news agency.
A job ad taped to a wall at the nursing home reads in large letters “We are hiring” and informs that the babies will be paid for their services in diapers and formula.
“Babies stay with their mothers all the time. It’s like they take them for a walk in the park”, explains Gondo.
Residents seem to be happy with the new employees, talk to them and hug them. “They are so cute, they remind me of when I had babies,” one resident told a local television channel.
So far, the initiative has had good results, according to Gondo, as some children have a great relationship with the elderly, as if they were grandparents and grandchildren.
