【PovertyisnotfirstthingthatcomestomindwhenyouthinkofJapan.Afterall,therearenochildrenbeggingonthestreetsinmajorcitieshere.YoudonotoftenseeJapanesecitizenspubliclylettingouttheircomplaintsoverthecountry'sec】
PovertyisnotfirstthingthatcomestomindwhenyouthinkofJapan.Afterall,therearenochildrenbeggingonthestreetsinmajorcitieshere.YoudonotoftenseeJapanesecitizenspubliclylettingouttheircomplaintsoverthecountry'seconomicdecline.ButseniorgovernmentresearcherAyaAbesaysJapanhasthefourthhighestrateofchildpovertyamongdevelopedcountries.
Shesayssheseesthatpovertyinschoolswherestudentsadmittoonlybathingonceaweek.Somecannotaffordtobuypencilsforclass.
"Theymaynotbeonthestreetsbeggingortheymaynotbeturningintocriminals,butit'sthere.It'sjustthatwehavetoopenoureyesandsee,"Abesaid.
Abeowestheincreaseinchildpovertytothecountry'schangingdemographics(人口统计),strugglingeconomyandhighsocialsecuritypremiums(保险费).Shesaysfewerpeopleliveinthree-generationhouseholds,wheretheparentsandgrandparentswork.Thenumberofsinglemothershasincreased.Thesalaryforyoungfathershasdeclinedwiththeeconomicdownturn.Socialsecuritypremiumshaveincreasedinthelast20years,puttingfamiliesontheedgeofpoverty.
AbesaysstudiesconductedbytheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment (OECD ) pointtorisingpovertyinJapanbeforetheglobaleconomiccrisesin2008.ButtheJapanesegovernmentandthepublicrefusedtoacknowledgeituntilthenpartlybecauseoftheshameassociatedwithpoverty.
"ItwasveryunpopularforJapanesemediatosayanythingaboutJapanesepoverty,"saidAbe."EventhoughOECDJapanannounceditinJapanese,Japanesemediadidn'tmakeitintothearticles."
AbesaysnewPrimeMinisterYukioHatoyamahastakenoneimportantsteptohelpalleviate (缓解) theproblem.Nextyear,hisDemocraticPartyofJapanplanstodoublemonthlychildcareallowancesgiventofamilies.
ButAbewantsthegovernmenttoexpanditsfinancialhelpevenmore.Shewantsittosimplifytheprocesstoapplyforpublicassistanceandprovideeducationalgrantsforstudentsstrugglingtopayfortuitionathighschoolsandcolleges.Thecountrynowonlyoffersloans.
Abealsosaysthegovernmentmustactquicklybecauseshesaystheproblemwillonlygetworseinthenextfewyears.