- Title: Japan single parents struggle to make ends meet
- Date: 28th February 2017
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - OCTOBER 2016) (REUTERS) A TOY ON A TABLE NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION LITTLEONE'S REPRESENTATIVE, KUNIHISA KOYAMA, INTERVIEWING A MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER FOR A SCHOLARSHIP A GIRL SWINGING IN HER CHAIR MOTHER AND HER SON PLAYING WITH TOYS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER WHO NEEDS FINANCIAL SUPPORT, SAYING: "An aging population is an important prob
- Embargoed: 14th March 2017 00:54
- Keywords: poverty relative children OECD
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Living/Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA00265FMHC5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:These Japanese school children are well-dressed and look well fed -- so much so that it's difficult to imagine that one out of six of them live in what experts call "relative poverty" or on less than half of the national median income.
At 16 percent, Japan's relative poverty rate is the sixth-worst among the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, just ahead of the United States.
Child poverty in working, single-parent households is by far the worst at over 50 percent, making Japan the only country where having a job does not reduce the poverty rate for that group. It's the only country where the poverty rate among working households and households with children increased after benefits and taxes.
There are literally no slums in Japan and visible poverty is mostly homeless people who live in make-shift shelters near or in parks.
But a widening income disparity and other ripples of decades of economic downturn are increasingly reaching the nation's youth.
According to 2015 Japanese government figures, almost 27 percent of the population was older than 65 and social spending is skewed towards pension and healthcare schemes that mostly benefit the elderly and there is little help for the young.
In an effort to fill the void where the government's reach falls short, non-profits have stepped up in.
Since 2009, Tokyo-based non-profit organisation (NPO) Littleones has been helping single parents find work and last year began offering cash gifts of up to 50,000 yen ($440) for children who can't afford clothes and necessities for extra-curricular activities. The amount tops the government's 20,000-40,000 yen "scholarship" for the poor that started this spring.
"An aging population is an important problem to tackle, but our children will be the ones carrying the burden of that aged society, so I think we should shift some of the focus on bringing up our children to bear this responsibility," said an unidentified single working mother who was applying for financial aid for her daughter.
There has also been an increase of "children's cafeterias", where children and their families, some of whom are in financially difficult situations, can eat warm meals relatively cheaply. They are mostly run by volunteers and sustained by donations. They don't open every day like regular restaurants but they offer nutritious meals to children whose parents can't afford such food or who don't have the time to cook as they have to work long hours.
In 2012, there were about 10 such facilities but now in 2017, there are over 200 according to the website Kodomo Shokudo Network, which is the network of children's cafeterias across Japan.
Hiroko Kondo, an owner of one such eatery in Tokyo, serves meals for 500 yen ($4.4) for adults and 100 yen ($0.88 ) for children.
"It's true that it has become a place where many belong. The term 'children's cafeteria' has become synonymous with child poverty and it has become a familiar phrase in our vocabulary," Kondo said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a round of applause from policy makers for his speech in parliament in January, 2017 on the issue of relative child poverty.
"The figures have increased over 15 years since the government first began tracking it, but it has fell for the first time under the Abe administration," Abe said.
The figure -- 7.9 percent -- was produced by the Statistics Bureau, which used a different sample size than the Ministry of Health and Welfare which calculated the relative poverty rate at 16 percent.
"Relative poverty" is a term used to describe poverty in developed countries such as Japan and differs from "absolute poverty rate" which is used to describe poverty in developing countries where a certain proportion of people live under a certain level.
The current child poverty figures are based on data for 2012 and the numbers for 2014 by the health ministry will be published this July, a figure Tokyo Metropolitan University Professor of Poverty Aya Abe says could purely be a sign of an economic trend rather than the improvement of the core issue.
"The situation tends to slightly improve when the economy is doing well, but leaving it up to the condition of the economy is what we have now, 16 percent. That's not good enough," she says, adding that polices that increase child benefits and improve employment conditions for single-parents are necessary for real improvement.
Some who experienced poverty in their childhood are nearing adulthood.
Madoka Fukabori, 18, grew up in a single-parent household of five after her father left her family to survive on welfare and her mother's salary from working in a noodle shop.
"I don't want people to think just because they can't see it, poverty in Japan doesn't exist," she says adding that visible change in lives of the poor are more important than a numerical change in trends.
Fukabori's family is still on welfare and endures power cuts when they are unable to pay their bills. Huddling with her two sisters under blankets to stay warm in during winter is not a distant memory.
In order to help others who have shared her experience of not having enough money, Fukabori has joined an NGO that helps raise awareness as well as funds. She regularly comes to Tokyo to collect donations to help people like herself. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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