Over 80% of facilities for disabled face labor shortages in Japan

From Kyodo via The Mainichi

December 29 2025

TOKYO – Over 80 percent of facilities for people with disabilities in Japan are facing labor shortages, mainly due to lower wages than in other industries, a recent survey by a group supporting the disabled showed.

Of the 3,142 facilities surveyed from August to October, 84.2 percent said they are facing staff shortages ranging from severe to slight, with many citing increased burdens on workers and declining service quality as a result, Kyosaren said.

Regarding the reasons behind the difficulty in securing the necessary workforce, 81.9 percent pointed to lower wages compared to other industries, while 59.1 percent said there were not enough candidates with the required skills or qualifications.

In the survey, some facilities said they struggled to accept individuals with severe disabilities who require individual assistance. Some small-scale providers said they lacked financial resources to secure staff, Kyosaren said.

Kyosaren called for increased government funding for facilities that provide welfare services for people with disabilities, although the welfare ministry says the state budget for such services has quadrupled over the past 19 years.

Hiroshi Ono, executive director of Kyosaren, said, “We are receiving voices of distress from facilities. The people who would be most affected by deteriorating services are users.”

The country’s public spending for people with disabilities as a percentage of gross domestic product has been very low, at 0.7 percent to 1.2 percent, compared with around 2.0 percent on average among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the group said.

“In order to improve the quality of disability welfare in Japan, it is essential to ensure the stable operation of welfare facilities capable of providing people with disabilities the necessary and sufficient support,” Kyosaren said.