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I just happened across an Asahi Shinbun article with a headline that reads:
日本{にほん}の子{こ}どもの幸福度{こうふくど}は６位{い}　豊{ゆた}かさの一方{いっぽう}、深刻{しんこく}な貧困{ひんこん}

(-) Compacting articles as much as possible is a standard practice in every newspaper in the world. Yet, the 3 character long "子ども" was written instead of the 2 character long "子供".

(-) My understanding is that "ども" in "子供" is not 送{おく}り仮名{がな}。 If somehow it is, I hope someone can elaborate? "送り仮名" does not happen after tangible nouns, right?

The writer of that headline absolutely has a reason for writing "子ども", but I cannot imagine what it is. Conserving space in a newspaper is paramount, and "子供" looks good to me.

thank you.

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    子ども is preferred over 子供 for the same reason as 障がい者 is preferred over 障害者.
    – user1016
    Dec 29, 2013 at 4:07
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    差別表現らしいです。全くおかしな話だが。。
    – Robin
    Dec 29, 2013 at 5:24
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    Etymologically, it was 子ども, the noun 子{こ} meaning child and the collectivizing suffix 〜ども. Now that we have such interesting usages such as 子供たち, it might not be relevant... I do see people spelling 友達 as 友だち though, etymologically relating it to the 〜たち suffix. Or is it because 達 is not very common?
    – ithisa
    Dec 29, 2013 at 21:02
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    達 is pretty common.
    – user1478
    Dec 31, 2013 at 4:35

1 Answer 1

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The reason is the negativity associated with the plural suffix 「供」, which tends to be used in a derogatory way as in 「[野郎供]{やろうども}」, 「[雑魚供]{ざこども}」, etc. "Mouths to feed" is what 「子供」 could sound/look like and unfortunately that is what the word used to often imply because Japan has not always been a wealthy nation like it is now.

In schools (Japanese schools. of course), I myself never officially learned to write 「こども」 or 「子ども」 entirely in kanji -- never. I had, for that reason, long been wondering why Japanese-learners write it in kanji. However, in June of 2013, our Ministry of Education changed its mind and announced that it would use 「子供」 in all of its official documents.

http://www.j-cast.com/2013/09/01182664.html?p=all

I myself will probably keep writing it as 「こども」 or 「子ども」 because old habits die hard, but since last June, we suddenly have every reason to write it as 「子供」. Newspapers can go either way because they are not official documents issued by the government.

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    "Ministry of Education changed its mind and announced that..." >>>ええっ！知らざった！
    – user1016
    Dec 29, 2013 at 6:02
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    Speaking as a learner, no one ever taught this to me, and I found this very interesting! I always wondered why my 漢和辞典 used 子ども instead of 子供. I've definitely seen 子供 used by native speakers, though. Searching through my notes, I found lots of examples, like this sentence from プラチナデータ.
    – user1478
    Dec 29, 2013 at 12:08
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    知らざった！ Interesting word choice...conjugating Classical 知らず -> 連用形 知らざり -> modern past 知らざった? Is such usage common? I've never seen it...
    – ithisa
    Dec 29, 2013 at 21:00
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    @user54609 Sorry I think it's (Internet?) slang... I wanted to sound funny hehehe
    – user1016
    Dec 30, 2013 at 14:59
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    文語と現代語を交じたる文{ふみ}はインターネットで見ゆるなあww
    – ithisa
    Dec 30, 2013 at 15:54

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