June 30, 2022
Akahata editorial (excerpts)
People's hardships associated with, for example, a loss of job or loss of income still continue due to the current price surge in addition to the coronavirus pandemic. It is necessary for the government to provide housing support in parallel with extra payments of benefits to people in need. Many people are now in trouble with securing affordable residence after they lost their income and became unable to pay their rent during the COVID-19 situation.
In fact, the number of applications for the Housing Securing Benefits has dramatically increased. The number rose to 153,007 in fiscal 2020, which was 36 times larger than the 4,270 applications filed in fiscal 2019. The Housing Securing Benefits the government paid in FY2020 amounted to about 30.6 billion yen or 53 times more than that in FY2019.
The government provides the Housing Securing Benefits with an upper limit through each municipality as a measure to support residents who are finding it difficult to pay their rent due to loss of income resulting from a job loss. This measure, however, sets a strict income limit. Many people are voicing the need to review the strict requirement. A single mother complained, "I'm not eligible for the benefit because child-rearing allowances are regarded as income. So, my total income exceeds the income limit." At present, the government extends the benefit period as a special measure but it is only for three months of temporary support under the pandemic situation.
Japanese Communist Party representative Miyamoto Toru at a meeting of the Lower House Welfare Committee in May proposed that the special measure of the Housing Securing Benefits be made permanent and be developed into a rent subsidy program.
The government housing policy imposes "self-responsibility" on the general public, bringing about the present "housing poverty". In 2000, the government began shifting its housing policy to private establishments and large corporations under the name of "private-sector and market-driven initiative" and pulled out of the direct supply of public housing, drastically downscaling the public role in securing housing for people.
New construction of public housing units has since been at a standstill, and eligibility requirements for residents remain very strict. The neoliberal housing policy which backpedaled on public responsibility undermined the principle that "housing is a human right".
The government should urgently reach out for people experiencing "housing poverty" and fundamentally change its housing policy to a people-friendly one.
People's hardships associated with, for example, a loss of job or loss of income still continue due to the current price surge in addition to the coronavirus pandemic. It is necessary for the government to provide housing support in parallel with extra payments of benefits to people in need. Many people are now in trouble with securing affordable residence after they lost their income and became unable to pay their rent during the COVID-19 situation.
In fact, the number of applications for the Housing Securing Benefits has dramatically increased. The number rose to 153,007 in fiscal 2020, which was 36 times larger than the 4,270 applications filed in fiscal 2019. The Housing Securing Benefits the government paid in FY2020 amounted to about 30.6 billion yen or 53 times more than that in FY2019.
The government provides the Housing Securing Benefits with an upper limit through each municipality as a measure to support residents who are finding it difficult to pay their rent due to loss of income resulting from a job loss. This measure, however, sets a strict income limit. Many people are voicing the need to review the strict requirement. A single mother complained, "I'm not eligible for the benefit because child-rearing allowances are regarded as income. So, my total income exceeds the income limit." At present, the government extends the benefit period as a special measure but it is only for three months of temporary support under the pandemic situation.
Japanese Communist Party representative Miyamoto Toru at a meeting of the Lower House Welfare Committee in May proposed that the special measure of the Housing Securing Benefits be made permanent and be developed into a rent subsidy program.
The government housing policy imposes "self-responsibility" on the general public, bringing about the present "housing poverty". In 2000, the government began shifting its housing policy to private establishments and large corporations under the name of "private-sector and market-driven initiative" and pulled out of the direct supply of public housing, drastically downscaling the public role in securing housing for people.
New construction of public housing units has since been at a standstill, and eligibility requirements for residents remain very strict. The neoliberal housing policy which backpedaled on public responsibility undermined the principle that "housing is a human right".
The government should urgently reach out for people experiencing "housing poverty" and fundamentally change its housing policy to a people-friendly one.
