Japan Press Weekly

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2017 June 28 - July 4 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

40% of single-mother households have no savings at all

A survey the Welfare Ministry conducted in fiscal 2016 shows that 37.6% of all single-mother households in Japan have no savings at all.

Among single-mother families, less than 30% have savings of over three million yen. Those who have barely managed to save up to 500,000 yen account for 14.4%.

It is highly likely that if single mothers become ill or lose their jobs, these households will soon face difficulty in making ends meet such as in paying for rent and food. This could force their children to drop out of high school or decide not to go on to university. As a consequence, poverty will be passed from parent to children, creating a chain reaction.

According to the same survey, out of all households in Japan, 14.9% turn out to have no savings at all and 36.9% are families with less than three million yen in savings. These figures indicate that even among general households, savings are not enough to survive on with a job loss. However, the poverty rate of single-mother families tends to be more serious.

The average annual income of single-mother households is 2,703,000 yen, far below the national average of 5,458,000 yen. The survey also reveals that 82.7% of single-mother families have been enduring economic hardships.

This is because women are more likely to work on low-paying non-regular contracts than men, contributing to keeping the former in the ranks of the working poor.

Past related articles:
> Unusually high university tuitions eat up household savings [June 8, 2017]
> NPO head calls for more public spending to combat child poverty problem [December 1, 2016]
> Gov’t should play role in eliminating child poverty [April 10, 2016]
> PM Abe admits poverty spreading in Japan [January 19, 2016]