Japan Press Weekly

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2013 January 23 - 29 [WELFARE]

100,000 signatures submitted against lowering welfare benefits

Representatives of citizens’ groups on January 22 submitted to the Welfare Ministry about 100,000 signatures in protest against the Abe Cabinet’s move to cut livelihood protection benefits.

The signatures make up about half of more than 200,000 signatures, including ones to be submitted on January 29. They were collected by a nationwide group covering a wide range of organizations and individuals working to defend the public welfare system.

At the Welfare Ministry, Utsunomiya Kenji, former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, told a ministry official, “The increase in number of welfare benefit recipients is the result of the expansion of poverty and the widening gap between the rich and the poor,” and went on to urge the government ministry to address this issue instead of making things worse by slashing the livelihood protection standards.

Inaba Tsuyoshi, representing the nonprofit organization Moyai (independent life support center), stressed that lowered standards for livelihood protection programs will likely make needy children ineligible to obtain financial supports for education and thus run counter to prevention of an intergenerational cycle of poverty.

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As of January 27, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations as well as 42 out of 52 regional bar associations throughout Japan have published statements in protest against the reduction of the welfare assistance benefits.