October 31, 2012

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Single-parent households, especially single mother families, are having severe economic difficulties.

The average annual income of single mother households in 2011 was 2.91 million yen, amounting to about 40% of ordinary households with children, according to the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry’s survey. More than 60% of single mother households were in “working poor” conditions as their yearly incomes were less than two million yen, and more than 14% of such households received livelihood protection benefits last year.

The hardest obstacle for them is difficulty in finding jobs. Only 30% of mothers in single-parent families looking for a job could successfully find one.

More than 80% of single mothers are working, but 47.4% of them are non-regular workers. The average yearly income of single father households is 70% of ordinary households with children.

Successive governments have implemented cold-hearted policies toward single-parent families. The former government of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties in 2002 lowered the income standards for households eligible for receiving childcare allowances and halved the benefits for those who receive them for more than five years.

Although the Democratic Party of Japan in the 2009 general election pledged to restore the childcare allowance program to the initial level, it has actually reduced the benefits for two consecutive years since last year. Not only that, the DPJ-led government is attempting to further cut the allowance by 1.7%.

Child poverty rate in Japan is highest among developed capitalist countries. The major reason of this is single-parent households’ desperate living conditions. Measures should be taken to support them to engage in stable jobs and raise their children without economic anxiety.