Japan Press Weekly

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2014 July 16 - 22 [WELFARE]

Japanese children’s poverty rate hits record high

In addition to a continuous decrease in average income, the relative poverty rate of children was the highest since 1985 in Japan in 2012, according to survey results that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released on July 15.

The amount of household income in 2012 stood at 5.37 million yen on average, down by 110,000 yen from the previous year. It has been decreasing since its peak of 6.64 million yen in 1994. Annual earnings of mother-and-child households barely reached 2.43 million yen, a 67,000 yen drop from a year earlier.

Income inequality is getting more visible. The relative poverty rate, the percentage of households whose income fell below half of the median, climbed to a record high of 16.1% since the survey started in 1985. The relative poverty rate of children also increased to 16.3%, exceeding the poverty rate for the first time.

Asked about economic conditions, a total of 59.9% of respondents said, “difficult” or “very difficult”. This figure was even higher among single-mother families, 84.8%.