Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 6 - 12 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

Forcing people to financially support their relatives violates human rights

The welfare ministry is aiming to revise the welfare system to force people to provide financial support to their relatives receiving welfare benefits.

The revision plan announced by the ministry on June 4 intends to reduce welfare expenses by making the most of the recent spate of “welfare recipients-bashing” triggered by the revelation that a well-known TV comedian’s mother had been on welfare.

The plan points out the need to consider setting up a new scheme to make households on welfare receive financial assistance from their relatives. It also states, “If a recipient’s relatives refuse to support the recipient, they have to prove that they have difficulty in doing so.”

When people apply to local governments for welfare benefits, a welfare office inquires of the applicants’ relations whether they will support the applicants or not. This makes many people give up trying to apply for welfare services.

If an applicant’s relatives are obliged to prove that they are unable to support the applicant, they may be investigated regarding their income or assets. More people will abandon asking for welfare benefits to avoid troubling their relatives. In many cases, the relatives of welfare recipients are in poverty, too.

Under the Livelihood Protection Law, if meeting the requirements, people in need can apply for and receive welfare benefits.

Forcing welfare applicants’ relatives to prove their difficulty in supporting the applicants violates the right of needy people to apply for benefits.