Who can surely save the child in poverty?

[SATOSHI MINAMIKATA]

Children in Japan face serious poverty according to the Asahi Shimbun dated 25 December 2013. The article claims ‘Japan ranked sixth in children's overall happiness, but 21st in the category of material well-being, reflecting a high poverty rate, according to a survey of 31 economically advanced countries’ by citing the United Nations Children’s Fund and Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research which was released on Dec. 25. This trend indicates that not only children but also ordinary families in Japan experience financial difficulties during nearly twenty years recession after collapse of bubble economy in 1990s. In such circumstances, the Child Poverty Act 2013 was implemented in June 2013 with purpose of making clear the basic principle of eradicating poverty of children, defining the obligation of the state and promoting the financial situation of children in poverty. However, it was reported that the government has no stable financial resources for tackling with poverty of children (5 June 2014 Mainichi Shimbun: http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20140606k0000m040133000c.html).

Satsohi (dairake@gmail.com)