Here elementary schools are 8:30-16:30 while middle schools are 8:00-13:00 (but they can stay at home alone in the afternoon). On the other hand working hours

Here elementary schools are 8:30-16:30 while middle schools are 8:00-13:00 (but they can stay at home alone in the afternoon). On the other hand working hours are usually more like 9:30-18:00 (8 hours plus lunch break). Dinner starts around 19 or even 19:30. It's common to have parents take the kids to school and grandparents or neighbors pick them up, and also the schools open earlier than the time classes start. However, if the parents were to start working at 8:30 with a 45 minutes commute, they still wouldn't have time to take the kids to school and then reach their workplace in time.