Japan’s Welfare Benefit Claims Up for 4th Year in 2023, Single Mothers and Disabled Comprise 15.8% of Applicants

From Jiji

March 6 2024

TOKYO – The number of welfare benefit applications stood at 255,079 in Japan in 2023, rising for the fourth consecutive year, the welfare ministry said Wednesday.

The number increased around 7.6 pct from the previous year as more people dipped into their savings to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and price hikes, ministry officials said.

In December alone, there were 18,695 applications, up 5.6 pct from a year earlier. The monthly number increased for the 12th straight month, the longest period of decline since the current form of research began in 2012.

The number of households on welfare totaled 1,653,778. Of the total excluding those suspended from the aid, 55.1 pct were households that had only aged members or were led by such people.

Households that fall under the “others” category, which includes those led by unemployed people but excludes those led by single mothers and people with disabilities or disease, accounted for 15.8 pct.