Japan Press Weekly

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2019 November 6 - 12 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Elderly and disabled account for 70% of households on welfare

Elderly and disabled households comprise 70% of households relying on public assistance. This was revealed in the survey results that the Welfare Ministry published on November 6.

According to the ministry data, the number of families which received livelihood protection in August stood at 1,636,646. Of them, 896,622 or 55% were households with elderly people, of which 90% are composed of persons living alone, and 201,699 (12%) were disabled households.

Compared with the same survey a year earlier, while the total number of households on welfare decreased, the number of elderly households and disabled households increased by 15,280 and 3,174, respectively. This suggests widespread poverty among the elderly and disabled.

Past related articles:
> More older people living alone go on welfare due to economic difficulties triggered by Abe’s welfare cuts policy [November 9, 2018]
> More and more disabled persons rely on welfare assistance [April 8, 2018]