Japan Press Weekly

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2014 December 17 - 23 [LABOR]

Japanese single mothers hard to escape from poverty despite having jobs

In Japan, more working, single mothers live below the poverty line than non-working, single mothers.

Results of a survey, which the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducted in January, showed that the poverty rate of Japanese single-parent households headed by working mothers stood at 50.9% and the rate of those households with non-working mothers was 50.4%.

In the same data, the average poverty rate for single parents who are not employed in OECD countries came to 58% and 20.9% for those who are employed.

Among OECD member states, even though Belgium, the United States, and Germany have higher poverty rates for single parents without jobs than Japan, they can get out of poverty once they find a job.

In Japan, 85.4% of single mothers have jobs. Nevertheless the percentage of single, poor working mothers remains high. This is because more than half of employed single mothers work in low-paid, non-regular jobs.

St. Paul’s University professor Yuzawa Naomi pointed out that in order to reduce the poverty rate of working, single mothers, it is necessary to create more full-time jobs, lower financial burdens on households such as for expenditures on education and housing, social welfare costs, and taxes, and improve public financial support programs.

The professor also stressed that the need is to create a society where everyone can achieve a healthy work-life balance through development of child-rearing systems, including building more authorized childcare facilities, increase non-regular workers’ wages, and narrow the gender pay gap.


Past related article:
> Poverty spreading among female workers in Japan [July 14, 2012]