Japan Press Weekly

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2013 November 20 - 26 [WELFARE]

Hokkaido governor rejects complaints over cuts in welfare benefits

A group of welfare recipients and their supporters issued a statement on November 18 in protest against the Hokkaido governor rejecting their complaints about sharp reductions in welfare benefits.

The Abe government began cutting the benefits in stages in August. The reduction will amount to 6.5% per household on average, up to 10%. So far, more than 10,000 families on welfare have filed complaints over the reduction with prefectural authorities nationwide.

In Hokkaido, about 1,400 households, approximately 1% of all the families on welfare in the prefecture, lodged complaints to the governor. Governor Takahashi Harumi dismissed the complaints from 255 families in the first round.

The governor gave some reasons for her dismissal as follows: municipalities’ welfare offices only calculated the amount of benefits in accordance with the public assistance standards decided upon by the welfare minister; the governor has no authority to make a judgment on whether the cutbacks in benefits violate the people’s right to live guaranteed under the Constitution; and those petitioners’ claims are nothing more than expressions of “dissatisfaction” with their present living conditions.

In the statement, the civil group noted that a lot of families on welfare have difficulty maintaining their lives due to the sharp decreases in public assistance, criticizing the governor for automatically disallowing their claims without giving the slightest consideration to their suffering. It also declared their intention to lodge a complaint with the welfare minister.

Past related article:
> Welfare recipients nationwide file complaints against cuts in benefits [September 18, 2013]